


Blue Exorcist: Aternative Story

by deepbluejewel



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-01-17 22:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1405405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepbluejewel/pseuds/deepbluejewel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yukio was always alone and had never known a thing about his real family. But one day he learned about his real heritage and long lost elder twin. With cat out of the bag will Yukio obey Shiro's last words, succumb to darkness or find his own option? Will Rin be his friend or foe? Alternative story with Rin and Yukio raised separately</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**_So, this is my first attempt in Blue Exorcist fanfiction. Actually I don’t know if my idea is very original, but at least I’ll try to make it interesting. For now I’m not sure about pairings (there is still possibility that I somehow manage to write this fanfic without romance at all)_ **

**_Disclaimer: I don’t own Blue Exorcist_ **

** Chapter 1 **

_…Snowflakes danced slowly in the fresh winter air. A little brown-haired and bespectacled boy with some moles stood near the ruined snowman staring blankly into the space. The blood was dripping from his nose staining the pure whiteness of the snow under his foot. Another trace of blood could be seen near the corner of the boy’s mouth. It seemed that some time ago the boy was crying: his eyelids were still swollen and one could simply notice the traces of dried tears on his cheeks._

_Some other children, who stayed at some distance, looked at the bespectacled boy with strange mixture of shock and utter horror. Every one of them was beaten quite severely as they were fighting withbrown-haired child not long ago. They had never expected that everything would end like that. The bespectacled boy was known as terrible scaredy-cat and crybaby. It was so easy to bully him. Well, it was easy until that day. Nobody could even imagine that wimp to actually snap and fight back with such hostility. He even hurt his own fists._

_The children stood silently for some time as if they were kind of afraid to speak. At last, one of them touched a long bleeding scratch on his cheek and whispered hard audibly:_

_“Monster”._

_That simple word suddenly became sort of a trigger and everybody yelled as well:_

_“Monster! Demon!”_

_The bespectacled boy, as if starting from a trance at the sounds of those hateful yells, sobbed and tried to run away as far as he could from those glares of hatred and horror. He tripped over something, fell on the snow, stood up and ran again. The boy tasted the unpleasant salty mixture of tears and blood on his tongue. It was a really horrible sensation which reminded him of his own loneliness…_

Yukio gasped and opened his eyes staring in the darkness. He sat up on his bed and covered his face with his hands. He wasn’t a child anymore yet his childhood memories continued to haunt him. And that dream… Yukio especially hated it, that nightmare, that reminder of his own fears, which always remained as salty aftertaste of lonely tears.

The teen reached for his glasses, put them on and looked at the clock. 3 a. m. Great. It still was plenty time until morning yet Yukio doubted that he would manage to sleep more. After all, he was never able to do it before. So he inattentively stared into the darkness and plunged in deep thought about himself and his life until now.

Okumura Yukio had lived for only fifteen years, but his life wasn’t too happy. No, of course, he had some moments of joy yet there were also many miserable minutes. After all, Yukio was only an orphan living in the monastery. He had never known his real family. The teen really loved and respected his adoptive father Fujimoto Shirou, but… Sometimes he wondered what happened with his real parents. Were they dead? Or, maybe, they simply abandoned him for some unknown reasons? When Yukio was little, he actually imagined that his parents would take him back. Unfortunately, that dream remained only dream. Sometimes the boy really thought about asking Shirou about his real family, but he never asked that question. In reality, Yukio was afraid to hear that his parents were bad people or that they didn’t need somebody like him.

Another his childhood dream was to have a sibling. It didn’t matter to Yukio if it was a boy or a girl, somebody younger or older than him. It could be even somebody not blood-related to him, after all Shirou was dear to his heart. Alas, Yukio was only child in the monastery…

As his dream about sibling seemed unreal, the boy at least tried to make some friends of his age. But all his attempts failed miserably. Yukio always was an ideal target for bulling as he was meek and incredibly shy, as well as wimpy and slightly cowardly child. His glasses and moles neither made his situation better. And, of course, there was his old habit to keep all his problems to himself. No one knew, that Yukio was bullied or suffered from loneliness. He never let anyone know, always putting on a fake smile, pretending that everything was all right, that all his injuries were from small accidents.

Unfortunately, Yukio never considered any of those his main problem. No, there was something more, something, that preventing him from making a friend more than anything else, something, that terrified even himself. Yukio usually endured any humiliation from other children yet sometimes he really lost his temper. His uncontrollable rage was really terrifying as he actually could hardly stop. What was the worst, even if Yukio hated to admit that, deep inside he actually enjoyed the results of his violence, all that fear and suffering he caused. The teen still remembered one accident more than ten years ago when he bit one of neighbour boys hard enough to draw some blood. He felt himself something superior to mere human and that was really disgusting. Maybe, Yukio couldn’t find a friend because he simply distanced himself from everybody…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

No matter, how hard that night was it had to eventually end. The morning came with its usual sounds and routine and Yukio came to the kitchen with his usual calm smile. The kitchen was nearly empty: it seemed that all the priests had already left and only Shirou sat there reading the newspaper.

“Oh, good morning, Yukio”, the man greeted his adoptive son with kind smile.

“Good morning, father,” replied the teen looking for something to eat.

“Aren’t you nervous?” asked suddenly Shirou. Yukio nearly dropped his sandwich. He didn’t want to worry his adoptive father, so tried to conceal his own uneasiness. It couldn’t possibly failed. Or not? Was his mental condition so obvious?

“For what reason?” the teen forced a smile. He was never sure he could deceive the priest. Somebody thought of Father Fujimoto as of easy-going, slightly stupid person who liked goofing around, yet Yukio knew that the man was extraordinary keen.

“Aren’t you going to leave the monastery next week?” smiled Shirou. Yukio relaxed. It seemed that his adoptive father somehow misunderstood his uneasiness.

“Yeah”, nodded the teen. “After all I’ve spent here all my life”.

“You’ve grown up”, said the man proudly. “And I’m glad your hard efforts helped you to get a scholarship in prestigious school. I’m sure you’ll become a great doctor one day”.

Really, one of Yukio’s dreams was to become a doctor. Instead of hurting people, he wanted to help them. The teen knew that he needed a good education, so he studied hard, learning as much as he could. Well, as he had no friends he had plenty of time anyway.

Yukio suddenly noticed an awkward silence. Maybe he had to say something, but for some reason couldn’t say a word. Shirou stayed silent as well. He seemed lost in thought. His face darkened for a moment and then he said:

“Yukio…” suddenly the man stopped as if he seriously doubted that he had right to continue.

“What?” asked the teen.

Shirou forced a weak smile and said something completely different from what he intended:

“Good luck”.

They both simply didn’t know that cruel fate had already planned the future, grinning like a mad…


	2. Chapter 2

That day Yukio had no real affairs, he simply set off to stroll about the town. Sometimes it really helped him to put his thoughts in order, especially those moments when his fears returned. Therefore, he continued to wander aimlessly not paying attention to surrounding.

Somehow, the teen ended near the swings. When Yukio was younger, he came there with Shirou from time to time. Those days they both pretended to be real family, and the boy nearly forgot all his sadness and loneliness. Maybe, that was the reason why Yukio always came to the swings whenever he wanted to chase away all bad thoughts.

The teen sat down on the swing, listening to the familiar creaking and smiled sadly. When he was little, he actually imagined somebody beside him on the next swing. Somebody of his age, good friend or even brother. Somebody, who would be so unlike himself, somebody brave, strong-willed and easy-going, maybe, even slightly naïve and a bit irresponsible. Somebody, who would always support him…

The funniest thing was that sometimes Yukio actually felt that person’s presence and some silent support. Well, it could be simply power of imagination…

“Hey, isn’t that Okumura?” the sudden yell interrupted his reflections. Yukio raised his head and noticed some teens. One of them was Shiratori – a guy from neighbourhood, who, as Yukio knew, hated him greatly.

“Okumura, I’ve heard you’ve managed to get a scholarship? Congrats!” asked Shiratori with a false smile. Yukio stood up. For now Shiratori seemed to be in good mood, but that wouldn’t last long. That guy held a deep grudge against Yukio. Well, there was a reason as bespectacled boy actually beat him a few times when he lost his temper. So now Shiratori wanted to pay back for his humiliation.

Yukio had already decided to endure everything and not fight back long time ago. After all he didn’t want to hurt people (well, some part of him **_wanted_** , but that wasn’t a case). Besides, Shiratori wasn’t usually too creative with his insults, so it wasn’t too hard to endure them.

“What a luck that you’re so smart!” he continued mockingly. “You need to work hard to get into good school if you’re so poor. Otherwise you may end as that crazy foster father of yours!”

Yukio gritted his teeth. Why would Shiratori actually touch a sore spot? He never was so keen before. Had he really noticed great respect and love, which Yukio showed towards Father Fujimoto? Of course, he would never stand that kind of insult. Well, Yukio might really say back something, but he never got a chance as something unexpected happened.

“Do you actually need so much people to beat one four-eyes? Guys, seriously, you’re pathetic!” a sudden mocking immediately made everybody turn to its source. Yukio saw a teen of his age with dark hair, blue eyes and wide smile. He had never seen him before, yet there was something unbelievably familiar, nearly nostalgic, about that teen. Shiratori and his friends seemed to have no idea who that teen was as well, but they definitely didn’t like his tone.

“And what’s your problem?” growled Shiratori. “Are you his friend or something?”

“Nope,” the teen simply shrugged and then approached the thug. “I just don’t like you”.

Next moment, before anybody managed to do a thing, the dark-haired teen punched Shiratori right in the face. The punch was really hard as the thug went flying backwards. His friends froze for some moments and then attacked the sudden foe. Anyway, it was meaningless: either the stranger was exceptionally strong or he had a great experience in fights, or even both.  As a result the thugs  were down in no time. Horrified, they ran away yelling something about monster and demon.

Yukio couldn’t help feeling kind of déjà vu. After all, how many times was he called a monster himself? It always left him with mixture of fear and guilt. However, the stranger was quite different.

“As if you, humans, are much better,” he murmured as he watched the thugs retreat. Then he turned round and faced Yukio.

“Hey, four-eyes, why haven’t you fought back?” the dark-haired asked as their eyes met. Only now Yukio noticed that the stranger was actually slightly shorter than him.

“I don’t want,” Yukio forced a fake smile and looked away. For what reason did that complete stranger pay so much interest to his problems? It wasn’t his business anyway.

“Liar,” the stranger didn’t believe him at all. “I saw myself. You gritted your teeth. And you wanted to punch that asshole so hard that you’d clenched your fists”.

“Mind your own business,” muttered Yukio, hoping that the stranger would leave him alone. Yet the dark-haired teen seemed to be extremely bold or at least too persistent.

“Oh, I think I know why are you acting like that”, continued the stranger. “You’re simply a scaredy-cat, aren’t you? You’re afraid that…”

He never ended his phrase. Those words actually hit Yukio reminding him about his fears. But this time he wasn’t scared. No, he was actually angry.

“Shut up”, said the bespectacled teen between his teeth. “You know nothing about me”.

The stranger even stepped back for a second, noticing Yukio’s dangerous glare, and then grinned:

“Wow, you actually can get angry, mole boy! Isn’t it much better to be true to yourself?”         

Yukio blinked, quite surprised. Maybe for a first time in his life he simply got angry like any other teen of his age. Anyway, the bespectacled teen didn’t like being called some odd nicknames and that stranger seemed to have already thought up at least two of them – “four-eyes” and now “mole boy”.

“I have a name, you know. I’m Okumura Yukio”, said the bespectacled teen, calming down.

“So your name’s is Yukio? And I’m Rin”.

Yukio didn’t know what to say. Really, what was the matter with that guy and his overfamiliar attitude? The brown-haired teen had never met a person who would introduce himself by his first name. Moreover, it seemed that Rin was going to call him by the first name without any honorifics as if they knew each other for many years.

But it wasn’t the end of the odd situation as Rin said with the wide grin:

“And now you have to treat me to lunch, Yukio”.

“And why should I?” asked the bespectacled teen coldly. He never intended to do it anyway.

“Because I’ve saved your ass”.

“I don’t remember asking for your help”, said Yukio firmly. “Any other reasons?”

Suddenly Rin looked away with obvious embarrassment and murmured:

“Because I’m lost and I’m hungry?”

Yukio couldn’t believe his own ears. Well, his new acquaintance might be too bold and too persistant, but he didn’t seem to be a bad guy. The bespectacled teen couldn’t help to feel some pity for Rin. Only some moments ago the dark-haired boy looked so cool and tough, and now he seemed really miserable…

Out of the blue Yukio caught himself thinking that Rin was actually a person he would like to see as a friend. Somebody so unlike himself, somebody brave, strong-willed and easy-going, even slightly naïve and a bit irresponsible…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“So, how did you end in this kind of situation, Rin-kun?” asked Yukio watching his new acquaintance was swallowing up the meat greedily. He would never think that somebody of his age would have such an appetite.

“I ran away,” answered Rin indifferently. “And I’ve already told you not to call me “Rin-kun”.

“You ran away, came to this town and got lost”, summed up the bespectacled teen. “I simply can’t get it. I would never…”

“Not everybody is scaredy-cat like you,” sniffed Rin. “Besides, Ge… I mean, my native town sucks. If you’re strong, you’re right. And if you’re weak, you have to obey . Otherwise, you’ll be annihilated”.

“But you have a family”, replied Yukio. “For example, I was raised in monastery without any siblings…”

“So what?” interrupted Rin. “My elder brothers are bunch of weirdoes with sick hobbies. And my dad is real psycho… No wonder, he is a devil, after all”.

Yukio looked at him with confusion. His new acquaintance really had a strange sense of humour.

“And your mother?”

“I’ve never known her,” answered Rin. For some time both were silent. Yukio mentally cursed his own tongue. Rin seemed to be more interested in meat.

“So what do you plan to do now?” asked the bespectacled teen breaking the awkward silence.

“I have to find something. Then I’ll return home”, replied Rin.

Yukio raised his eyebrows in surprise:

“I thought you don’t like your family”.

“Of course, I don’t like them”, Rin nodded. “I’ll return only to kick those guys’ asses!”

No, Yukio surely couldn’t get that kind of humour. He forced a weak smile and then noticed that the dark-haired teen made a strange gesture as if he was trying to kept the flies off him.

“Damned coal tar,” murmured Rin. “So annoying…”

“Eh?” Yukio didn’t understand a thing.

“Never mind… It’s not like you can see them, anyway”, the dark-haired teen smiled. “In any case, thanks for treatment. Maybe, I’ll visit you before I come back home. Bye!” and he left the little café.

Yukio followed him with his eye and sighed. Well, the day was actually unusual. And he might actually become friends with Rin. Alas, everything seemed to be over. Yukio seriously doubted he would meet his new acquaintance once more.

Suddenly he noticed an odd little black creature flying near him. It didn’t look like bug or fly at all. Yukio rubbed his eyes, and the creature disappeared.

‘It seems I need to sleep more’, thought the teen grimly. He didn’t know that his life would change very soon…     


	3. Chapter 3

For all his live Yukio had never believed in something supernatural. He was a person who trusted only his own eyes and scientific facts. It seemed quite unusual for somebody raised in monastery, but Yukio never was too interested in religion or demons and Father Fujimoto never forced him to learn that stuff. Yet now bespectacled teen was really close to believing in paranormal. It simply couldn’t be otherwise as Yukio kept on seeing strange little black creatures floating in the air. First, it was only a few of them, but their number increased gradually. For some time Yukio tried to convince himself that those little creatures were only his imagination due to stress and lack of sleep. Then he tried to ignore them without any success. Black creatures were quite persistent and annoying like flies so the teen usually needed to wave his hand to chase them off. Strangely enough, they never entered the monastery as if something kept them out.

Some days later Yukio lost his patience and decided to study strange creatures. It wasn’t as easy as it seemed: first you had do catch some of them, however, they were quite elusive. Moreover, the teen accidentally crushed the first creature he managed to catch. It left him with unpleasant feeling: even if Yukio had no idea about that strange thing, it definitely was alive and seemed quite harmless. Yet the teen couldn’t notice the strange thing: the creature seemed to have no blood or other body fluids as everything that left was something like black dust. Yukio was really confused as it actually contradicted all his knowledge of biology. So he abandoned his research of strange creatures.

Little black beings wasn’t only thing he saw.  One time the teen noticed some really ugly and quite dangerous-looking beasts, another – nearly bumped into the person with horns.

‘Am I crazy?’ the teen began brooding about all strange things he saw. Suddenly it occurred to him that everything started in one particular day. No, even in particular moment. Yukio remembered his meeting with that person, Rin, and their conversation. That teen seemed to chase something off and then…

_“Damned coal tar… So annoying…”_

Yes, Rin definitely said something like that. And that time Yukio didn’t understand him at all. Moreover his new acquaintance added something weird.

_“Never mind… It’s not like you can see them, anyway”_.

No, it couldn’t be. Yet Yukio became more and more convinced that Rin actually saw something. Was coal tar one of those little black creatures or something else? The bespectacled teen didn’t know, but he was sure that the first flying being appeared after Rin left. Maybe it would be better to ask the dark-haired teen about that, but Yukio hadn’t even the slightest idea where he could be. So in the end he decided to ignore strange things for some time, hoping they would disappear one day… At least, the teen was happy he hadn’t seen something like that when he was younger: he wasn’t sure he could bear that in his childhood. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukio wandered the monastery without any aim. He simply wanted to forget about strange annoying creatures and here it was much easier than outside. Somehow the teen ended in small monastery library. For all his live Yukio was sure that it was full of some religious literature, so he never actually came here. But now as his gaze fell on the shelves he couldn’t help wondering if it was right to avoid this place. Demons, exorcism, something about fatal verses… Was all those stuff real? Yukio suddenly remembered how his foster father sometimes exorcised demons that haunted little children, but the teen always thought it was to drive away those childish fears. Was it actually real thing? Then why had Father Fujimoto never told him about demons? Yukio frowned. Wasn’t he responsible enough? Was he so unreliable?

Approaching footsteps almost made the teen start and he tried to run away only to bump into Father Fujimoto. It was quite unpleasant yet expected turn of events.

“Yukio?” the priest seemed surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing”, answered the teen automatically. “I even can’t understand how I’ve ended here”, and he forced a weak smile. Yukio wasn’t sure he would be able to talk to his foster father for a while. Maybe some time later, but definitely not at the moment.

“Wouldn’t you like to tell me something?”

The sudden question made Yukio freeze. Was his condition so obvious?

“No, nothing”, the teen smiled once more and then ran off pretending he had some immediate business.

Father Fujimoto followed him with his eye and sighed. Actually, the man wanted to talk with his adopted son, but didn’t dare as he noticed some uneasiness and nervousness in Yukio’s eyes.

Fujimoto Shirou was quite straightforward and honourable person with his own sense of justice. However, even he had some deep regrets. Sometimes, the man remembered his youth, when he never thought about consequences and followed only his own heart, annoying his superiors. Yet he never doubted in his actions. But then the tragedy had happened. A great tragedy related with human girl impregnated by Satan, the great ruler of Gehenna  and swore enemy of humankind. The girl named Yuri Egin was only another victim of the devil, yet Vatican saw her and her unborn child as a threat. Many exorcists were eager to kill her before she gave birth to the child of Satan. But Fujimoto never agreed with it. Moreover, he actually doubted if it was right to judge a baby that only started the life.

Then, there were Blue Night – the moment when Shirou cursed his own inability to change anything. How many friends and comrades had he lost that night? He had a real reason to hate those damned blue flames. Fujimoto even thought for a moment that it would be possible for him to carry out his mission and kill the spawn of Satan. Yet…

When the man saw Yuri’s little twin sons, all his determination had vanished. So what if they were Satan’s children? So what if they would become a threat one day? It didn’t matter that moment. Those boys were only innocent babies and Shirou would never force himself to murder them. Otherwise he would be no better than actual demon.

Fujimoto never regretted his decision to hide the twins and lie to Vatican. It didn’t matter if he lost his position or became a criminal. First, he was the human and then – an exorcist. Therefore, the man chose to raise and protect those little boys, Rin and Yukio, trying his best.

Father Fujimoto suddenly frowned. His best? He actually failed his mission. If he tried harder, he would never let demons took away Rin. Maybe it was Shirou’s biggest regret. All these years the man desperately searched even for tiny bit of information about the boy, yet found nothing. At least, Kurikara sword was intact and hidden, leaving the hope. As long as seal wasn’t broken, Rin would never be actual demon.

Another problem was Yukio. Many years ago Fujimoto was sure that Satan’s power rejected weaker younger twin, but as the time passed the man understood his mistake. The power was actually divided between boys, only that weren’t halves. While Rin received the most of it, Yukio’s part was quite tiny, nearly unnoticeable. Well, at least Shirou sealed abilities of both twins, even without knowing.

Fujimoto realized that Yukio wasn’t human shortly after Rin’s disappearance as he began to sense growing demonic power. Even if it was tiny and sealed, that growth simply couldn’t be ignored. Yet Shirou really hoped that Yukio would live a normal life without demons and exorcists. He actually was glad when he heard about boy’s dream to become a doctor. Moreover, Yukio was a good child, responsible and well-bred, with good grades in school. Fujimoto was sure that the teen would get a good job one day and become a great person.

Nevertheless, all those hopes shattered. It seemed that Yukio was able to see demons now. It was only logical explanation of his strange attitude. That’s why Father Fujimoto decided to speak with his adopted son some days ago. Yet he still didn’t start the painful conversation. What would he tell Yukio? How could he possibly explain the whole situation, and, moreover, tell about Rin?

What was the worst, Yukio avoided the conversation as well…


	4. Chapter 4

Assiah was amazing. No wonder, that some of his brothers liked it so much.

It was the only thought Rin had at the moment. No, of course he knew that Assiah was quite different from Gehenna where he spent nearly all his life, but still… The teen couldn’t help staring in awe at all the stores and cafes around him. Well, it seemed he somehow overdid it as the passerby looked at him strangely. Some girls giggled and Rin heard something like “What’s up with this guy? He is from the country, isn’t he?”

The teen didn’t bother. He simply was happy to leave dark and gloomy Gehenna at last. It really seemed a great idea to run away.

Alas, initial joy soon disappeared as Rin realized something. First, he had no idea what to do now. The teen didn’t know anybody from Assiah who could help him. Moreover, even if Rin had acquaintances he actually didn’t know where to go. Assiah was really big, much bigger that he could ever imagine. The dark-haired teen hated to admit it but he had lost. The worst was that he couldn’t even ask the way.

As he wandered the streets aimlessly thinking about his current situation, he felt a hunger. Rin hadn’t eat for a while, so it wasn’t something unexpected.

As the teen stopped in confusion, he suddenly noticed a group of boys about his age. Without any doubts they bullied some boy in glasses. At first, Rin was going to pass by. After all, it wasn’t strange that strong humiliated weak. In Gehenna it was almost the main rule. Rin had to learn it in a hard way. Besides, it seemed to be only that four-eyes’ fault. If he defended himself those thugs would leave him alone. At least, Rin thought so. Those guys seemed to him real cowards as they ganged up against one person. Yes, Rin was going simply to pass by, yet…

Actually, he never was able to answer why he interrupted that moment. Was it because of that hidden anger and hatred he noticed in the bespectacled teen’s eyes? Or because of his own unhappy childhood memories? Or maybe because of some strange feeling? Or even because of all of those? Rin didn’t know why but he called out to thugs:

“Do you actually need so much people to beat one four-eyes? Guys, seriously, you’re pathetic!”

It seemed everybody where shocked, especially that teen in glasses. Well, it last only for some moments as Rin actually began a fight punching the thugs leader right in the face. Or maybe it couldn’t even be considered an actual fight. After all it ended too quickly. For a brief moment Rin was really surprised of his rival’s weakness but then remembered that they weren’t powerful demons from Gehenna. They were only human beings yet the teen couldn’t get rid of feeling that they weren’t much better than residents of Gehenna.

Now only one left was that bullied bespectacled teen. At first Rin really wanted simply go away and yet… Somehow he felt that he couldn’t leave. Or at least couldn’t leave at the moment. So he faced the bespectacled teen with simple question:

“Hey, four-eyes, why haven’t you fought back?”

The taller teen forced a smile and answered that he didn’t want to. Rin wasn’t the most keen person yet even he understood that it was an obvious lie.

“Liar. I saw myself. You gritted your teeth. And you wanted to punch that asshole so hard that you’d clenched your fists”.

Rin was straightforward by nature. The dark-haired teen preferred to act and never had any regrets of his actions. Maybe it was a real reason why it was completely beyond his grasp that somebody would try to suppress their own emotions and lie to themselves. Was it because of weakness? Or maybe it was fear? The last assumption seemed legit, so Rin continued:

“Oh, I think I know why are you acting like that. You’re simply a scaredy-cat, aren’t you? You’re afraid that…”

He never had a chance to end that phrase. The bespectacled teen interrupted him quite rudely and it was really unexpected. Moreover that four-eyes’ glare was really something. Even if Rin lived in Gehenna for a whole life and encountered numerous demon, yet the ones with similar dangerous vibe were really rare. The dark-haired teen even failed to notice that he unconsciously stepped back.

And yet Rin actually approved such open display of anger. So he grinned and said:

“Wow, you actually can get angry, mole boy! Isn’t it much better to be true to yourself?”

The anger on the four-eyes’ face changed to a surprise and he blinked. Rin actually wondered if he had told something inappropriate. After all, he wasn’t too familiar with Assiah traditions.

“I have a name, you know. I’m Okumura Yukio”, said the bespectacled teen at last.

“So your name’s is Yukio? And I’m Rin”, well, maybe the dark-haired teen didn’t know enough about Assiah tradition, but he at least understood that he had to introduce himself as well.

The awkward silence showed that something was definitely off. That Yukio looked at him strangely. Now Rin was entirely sure that he’d said something inappropriate. Anyway, he didn’t give a heck even if Yukio considered him a weirdo. For a moment, Rin was concerned only for his own problem, namely hunger. The teen had nearly forgotten about it because of his encounter with thugs but now hunger reminded about itself in most ugly manner.

Rin grinned as the sudden thought occurred to him. Well, it was a bit bold, but he hadn’t other choice.

“And now you have to treat me to lunch, Yukio”.

Rin really hoped that his only acquaintance in Assiah would agree. Alas, it never occurred. For a moment, Yukio was dumbfounded, but then regained his calm and asked as cold as he could:

“And why should I?”  

Well, that was somehow unexpected. Rin really believed that the four-eyes would show at least a bit of gratitude.

“Because I’ve saved your ass”.

“I don’t remember asking for your help. Any other reasons?”

That was a total disaster. That Yukio actually was much more stubborn than Rin could imagine. Instead of immediate show of appreciation he encountered cold and firm reasoning. Well, there was one more approach. It was embarrassing as hell, but Rin didn’t see any other option.

“Because I’m lost and I’m hungry?”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

‘Well, in the end he actually treated me’, thought Rin as he was strolling around the city after the lunch. Maybe, his meeting with Yukio could seem insignificant, yet it was meaningful for the teen. After all, that Yukio was first human he made an acquaintance with.

They didn’t talk much enough, but Rin actually learned that his new acquaintance was quite different from himself. They might be of the same age, but Yukio seemed much calmer and more reasonable and careful. Even if Rin considered that attitude as cowardice, deep inside he couldn’t help admitting that it wasn’t a bad thing. It was simply different.

Rin remembered a short talk in the café. He nearly slipped about Gehenna once or twice. Fortunately, it seemed Yukio didn’t notice a thing. After all, as Rin knew, not many humans actually knew about Gehenna.

Yet that short talk brought forth some unpleasant memories. Rin frowned as he remembered his own previous life.

_He was the prince of Gehenna, the youngest son of Satan and the only one, besides his father, who owned the blue flame. It was the truth, yet… All of those were mere titles. Actually, Rin was never powerful enough to live out those. Even if Satan had once any plans for his son he seemed to abandon them. Or, at least, Rin thought so. After all, he was raised far from Satan’s castle by Leije – one of Satan’s insignificant female servants, - and there were only a handful of demons who knew his heritage. When Rin was little, he wondered why his father abandoned him. Was it because of his weak flame? Or because the boy was slightly different from other demons? He simply didn’t know._

_But Rin wasn’t completely upset about his life. He lived with Leije in her village, which was surprisingly peaceful for Gehenna. (When Rin became older, he learned that that place actually was considered a ‘homeland of weaklings’). There weren’t many humanoid demons, yet the boy had some playmates. They weren’t good friends as they often teased Rin because of his unusual appearance and the boy usually fought with them. Sometimes he won, but more often demon children teamed up and beat a crap out of him. Eventually, they made up and everything was repeated once more._

_“Really, Rin”, sighed Leije once as she noticed all the bruises on the boy’s face. “Are you able to live at least a day without fighting?”_

_Leije was a short, fragile-looking female demon with shoulder-length purple hair and golden eyes. One of her black horns was broken – they said it was a reminder of her most humiliating defeat. As Rin knew, villagers were afraid of the woman – she was quite strong and could trash every one of them. However, the boy was never afraid of demoness, who raised him. Actually he was attached to Leije and even considered her an elder sister (as she never tried to act like his mother)._

_“They teased me”, growled Rin. “They even said that I’m not a demon!”_

_Leije face darkened._

_“Come in”, she said strictly. “We need to talk”._

_Rin had never seen the woman so serious before, so he clearly understood that something was definitely wrong. However, Leije kept silent for some minutes, as if she tried to find the most appropriate words, and only then stated:_

_“Rin, you’re already ten, so I think there’s no reason to keep you in the dark… But first, let me ask you something… Who are you?”_

_The boy blinked in surprise. The answer was obvious and Leije knew it very well. Yet, he replied with some hesitation:_

_“I’m Rin, the son of Satan…”_

_“OK. Then next question: what are you?”_

_“A demon, of course!” answered Rin with mixture of confusion and slight anger. He didn’t like Leije’s vague hints of something._

_The demoness stayed silent, looking absent-mindedly on the wall. Somehow, that grim silence scared Rin and he spoke nervously, as if trying to convince somebody:_

_“No, really, I’m a demon! I have a tail and… Well, my fangs are not as sharp as yours, and my ears…”_

_Leije sighed and looked at the boy with great sympathy as she noticed panic in his blue eyes. Suddenly the woman hugged Rin as hard as she could and whispered apologetically:_

_“You’ve noticed that yourself. You’re different. In truth, you’re actually half-demon…”_

_“Half-demon?”_

_“Yes. Even if Satan is your father, you still has a half of human blood from your mother. As I know, you was born in Assiah, but then your father’s minions brought you here. At first, you really looked like a human baby, however, eventually you got some demonic features. I believe, it’s Gehenna influence. If you lived in Assiah, I’m sure, you wouldn’t be much different from human kids…”_

_All that time Rin listened attentively, however now he interrupted:_

_“But why did my father bring me in Gehenna? If I’m only pathetic half-demon…”_

_Leije smiled sadly and ruffled his hair:_

_“Rin, you still don’t understand a thing. You’re not pathetic. In fact, Satan always considered you his most perfect creation. Do you know why? Demons need a body from Assiah to stay there. However, Satan’s power played a cruel joke with him. There isn’t even a simple body which he is able to possess long enough. Everything is eventually destroyed by his blue flame. So Satan wanted to conquer Assiah, yet he wasn’t able to command his legions there. He needed somebody with nearly equal power to lead them there. You was born with Assiah body which is able to withstand destructive power of blue flames… Yet there were some complications…”_

_“I was too weak,” stated Rin grimly._

_“No,” the woman shook her head. “You power was sealed. When Satan learned this, he was really furious, but couldn’t do a thing. You won’t be able to imagine the number of attempts to break the seal. And all failed. It seems it can be broken only by direct contact. In the end Satan decided to send you away before he found a way to deal with the seal…”_

_There was a long pause, and then Rin asked with clear doubt in his voice:_

_“What will happen with me, if the seal is broken?”_

_He looked so pitiful that Leije couldn’t help laughing:_

_“Well, I think you’ll get more power. Maybe it’ll overwhelm you for a while. You may even lose control. Yet Rin will always be Rin – stupid stubborn little boy, who always gets into trouble and never listens to advices!”_

_“Hey!” the boy was clearly offended, but soon understood it was a joke and smiled himself._

_“You know, Leije, you quite different from other demons,” he said._

_“Stu-pid,” she drawled. “How many times have I to remind you that despite of common belief not every demon is utter evil? The same goes for humans, by the way. Not every one of them is innocent and pacifistic. Actually, I’ve met humans more cruel than monsters and demons with real humanity. So I believe, it doesn’t matter what you are. Your heart is only thing which determine your way…”_   

Rin smiled remembering those days, but then frowned. He actually came in Assiah because of Leije. Her way of thinking wasn’t popular in Gehenna. The demoness always had a plenty of enemies because of her protests. And eventually it backfired. A year ago, Leije was killed. Rin suspected Satan’s involvement, but had no proofs.

Anyway, that day the teen swore to change Gehenna. The only way was to overthrown his father whose cruel ideas were nearly religion for the demons. To do it Rin needed power, so he had to find and break that seal he heard about from Leije. The dark-haired teen was sure he could control his real flame and it would be enough to defeat his tyrant father. The plan seemed great… No, it really seemed great before Rin sneaked into Assiah.

Now he actually understood that he needed help. The teen thought about his half-brothers. Some of them were really knowledgeable about this world and definitely had some connections. Another matter was that most of them would never help their youngest brother, especially if they knew his plans.

Rin thought about Amaimon, who in fact helped him to get into Assiah. The King of Earth was quite indifferent and didn’t seem to have some suspicious schemes. He even didn’t asked Rin why would he need to get to Assiah. However, the dark-haired teen seriously doubted that his half-brother would be of real help. More likely, Amaimon knew about Assiah only slightly more than him.

Lucifer was also here, but Rin immediately discarded the idea of asking him for help. Somehow, that elder brother seemed really creepy and the teen was sure that Lucifer might be even worse than Satan himself. After all, he had a reputation of one of the most cunning demons in Gehenna.

Speaking of cunning, Rin suddenly remembered that he had a much more manipulative and evasive half-brother, who wasn’t afraid to demand his conditions even speaking with Satan. Samael, the King of Time. Rin had met him only once, yet was left with impression that his elder brother was playing his own game. The teen would never believe somebody like that, but he had to admit that Samael knew about Assiah more than any other demon. Besides, it seemed he had deep connections with exorcists – people who surely had something to do with Rin’s seal. So the teen hadn’t better choice…             


	5. Chapter 5

The situation was a real stalemate. Shiro crossed the room with grim expression on his face. He knew he needed to tell Yukio all the truth, he even thought about every word he would said, prepared to face every question, every accusation. Yet the teen literally ran away before his foster father began the conversation. Again. It would be even funny, if the whole situation wasn’t so serious.

The man sat down and sighed. Maybe, it really wasn’t the best decision to tell the boy everything. Maybe, the fate itself prevented this conversation. Father Fujimoto was pretty sure it would be the best for Yukio to live a simple happy life without any demon stuff. Alas, his dark heritage would never let the teen go and eventually would hit him as hard as possible. Would Yukio be able to forgive him in that case? Shiro seriously doubted it. Heck, he even wasn’t sure that the teen would forgive him after learning the truth. After all the man kept his adoptive son in dark about his parents, his heritage and even about his elder brother all those years. Even if it was for protection, it also showed a lack of trust, creating the great rift between the teen and his foster father.

Shirou took a pen and a shit of paper. After all, there were other ways to tell the truth. If Yukio was afraid to speak with his adoptive father, then…

_Dear Yukio,_

_I know, if you will forgive me all that lie, but…_

He wrote frantically with sudden aspiration as if somebody much wiser was whispering him what to tell. Shiro wrote about Assiah and Gehenna, about demons and exorcists, about Satan and True Cross Order. He frankly told about his real job and position in Order. Then the man proceeded to the events of Blue Night and reasons, which caused them. He wrote about tragic fate of Yuri Egin and numerous deaths of exorcists. But after that Fujimoto’s hand actually shook. Next was the hardest part. Yet it was essential and unavoidable, so Shiro wrote everything. About Satan’s spawn and his own orders to get rid of them. About decision to spare twins. About Kurikara and its seal. And at last about kidnapping of Rin…

Shirou ended the letter and dropped the pen feeling exhausted and empty. He put into it all his emotions, all his care, all his regrets and hopes. Now it felt like he actually managed to put all those difficult years on the paper…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That morning Shiro actually managed to stay alone with Yukio.

“Yukio, I think, we need to have a serious talk”, said the man.

The teen startled. His eyes showed some nervousness and then he forced a weak smile:

“Can we speak later? We’re short of rice. I’m going to buy some or we’re going to be left without dinner…”

The bespectacled teen went out so quickly that even hadn’t heard Shiro’s answer.

‘He’s definitely avoiding me’, thought the man sadly. ‘I’m pretty sure that when Yukio return he will find other excuse. I know, it’s hard to learn the truth in his case. But he simply need to know, even if it cruel… Forgive me, Yukio…’

Fujimoto sighed, then went on the teen’s room and left the letter on the desk. He was sure, Yukio would read it, but his possible reaction remained unpredictable…

Sudden bad premonition stuck the priest. He took out little key and put it into the lock of random drawer. Inside was a traditional Japanese sword. Yet it wasn’t some simple katana. It was Kurikara – the sword used to seal blue flames. And now those cursed flames leaked for a second as if the sword couldn’t suppress them anymore. The seal was definitely growing weaker. And that meant…

Shiro ran out of the room hoping that Yukio hadn’t left yet. He nearly bumped into one of the priests who looked at him with great shock. But Father Fujimoto didn’t care about manners that moment.

“Where is Yukio?” he yelled.

“Went to the grocery’s”, answered the priest, still dumbfounded.

Shiro cursed. It was really bad…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukio chased away another little black creature. Today there were much more of them than usual. Moreover, the teen could swear that the creatures were mocking him. Maybe, he really went insane and all of those were simple hallucinations. No, it would be much better if those **_were_** hallucinations. And if his father weren’t going to speak with him about demons. Yukio preferred his peaceful life without any supernatural beings.

It didn’t take much time to buy some rice and soy sauce, but Yukio didn’t hurry home, so he decided to wander around the town. Somehow, he ended in quite suspicious part of it. The teen felt that something was off and soon realized what the problem was. The street was silent and deserted as if it was a scene from horror film. Yukio tried to put that stupid thought out of his mind, but failed miserably as his uneasiness only grew more.

The grim silence was broken by weak plead:

“Somebody, help…”

Yukio froze in horror as he noticed a middle-aged man in strange uniform slowly crawling out from the side street. The stranger was covered in blood and his face were twisted with fear and pain. It seemed his legs were broken.             

Yukio knew that the injured man needed some first aid, yet for some reason the teen couldn’t move even an inch. Some unpleasant, cold and disgusting feeling embraced his soul. It seemed like beginning of nightmare, yet it was reality.

The injured man continued his hopeless escape from something unseen. He hadn’t noticed the teen, who was still frozen with shock, or maybe was too terrified to notice his surroundings.

“Where are you, darling?” a woman voice sang out swiftly from the side street. That sound made Yukio flinched. There were dangerous poisonous, no, even sadistic undertones in the voice. Next moment its owner showed from the side street and the teen plead the heaven that everything would turn to be a stupid nightmare and he would wake in his bed. Alas, the horror continued.

The woman was definitely inhuman. The word ‘demon’ flashed through Yukio’s mind as she actually fitted that image. The woman clearly wasn’t a beauty – she was too skinny, unhealthy pale, with dirty, tousled long black hair. Moreover, maniacal grin, revealing frightening sharp teeth, twisted horns and crazy glare didn’t make her more attractive. Her long tail was twitching with anxiety as the woman squatted down near the injured man, still not noticing Yukio as well.

“My dear, why are you running from me?” the demoness inquired with fake curiosity. “We haven’t finished our small talk, have we?”

“Stay away!” the man screamed fearfully still trying to get away. “You filthy monster!”

A shadow of anger flashed across the woman’s face and she dug her clawed hand deep inside the man’s guts. The hit was mortal and he fell into the ground like a sack.

“My, my, have I killed him?” sang the woman. “Bo-oring…”

Yukio couldn’t get for what reason he had still stood in the middle of the street while his common sense yelled him to run away as quick as possible. The demoness hadn’t noticed him, but that was only because of luck. She needed only to turn her head to…

“Wow! Another one!”

The worst case scenario had actually happened, by infamous Murphy’s law. In no time the woman stood near Yukio, examining him with her insane glare.

“My, you’re so young. Are you really an exorcist?” she asked, touching the teen’s cheek with her dangerous claw and never bothering about an answer. Then the demoness proceeded to his glasses and took them off.

“Quite a good-looking young man,” she mused. “What a loss!”

Yukio somehow knew that he wouldn’t be able to run away. Not from that **_demon_**. She only looked weak, yet the teen felt she had enough strength to rip him in sheds. He was like a mouse starring in the snake’s eyes. She was definitely a predator, and he was a simple prey.

Something long, flexible and hairy wound itself round Yukio’s neck trying to strangle him. The teen’s eyes opened widely at sudden realization that it was a demoness’s tail.

“Why are you, annoying little pests, still following me? Are you too dumb to understand that you’re pathetic?” the woman’s mood changed drastically as she hissed with annoyance. However, Yukio hardly understood her words. The lack of air clouded his mind and he nearly lost conscience. His mind was blank surrounded by pitch-black darkness of death coming.

_‘I don’t want to die,’_ the thought was weak, yet full of desire for life. And that life flared brightly inside Yukio’s mind. The teen subconsciously reached for that light… No, not light. Little blue flame, somehow dangerous, even evil… It didn’t matter at the moment, anyhow.

The yelp of surprise and pain returned Yukio to reality. He wasn’t strangled anymore and dropped on his knees, greedily gasping for air. The demoness stood nearby, licking her burned hand. Her tail seemed injured as well. Nevertheless, the woman wasn’t enraged. Instead she looked at the teen with awe.

“Blue flame…” she whispered fanatically. “The great and unrivaled power of our Lord… So beautiful…”

Yukio hadn’t any clue what was happening, but that trance-like state of the demoness seemed a perfect opportunity to run away. The teen tried to stand up, but his legs gave way under him. He was still too weak. Besides, the demon came to her senses and sat near Yukio, looking at him with clear interest.

“Boy, what are you?” she asked, head cocked slightly to one side. “No human can have blue flames. Actually, it’s even not the power for a mere demon to possess. These are the flames of Satan, Gehenna’s God!”

Yukio couldn’t get a thing. Satan? Gehenna? Blue flames? Moreover, why did the demon suddenly become so _friendly_? Didn’t she try to kill him some moments ago?

The woman bent down too Yukio, examining him once more so carefully as if she tried to see his soul. The silence was grim.

“Oh-ho,” murmured the demoness, mostly to herself. “This is Assiah body, yet it’s able to withstand destructive power of blue flames. The rumors seem to be real… Satan actually has a half-demon offspring. Strange, they said he was living in Gehenna”.

Those words had no offence, however they hurt Yukio more than even near-death experience not so long ago. It was as if some cruel strength was trying to tear apart his little fragile world. He didn’t want to listen, yet the woman’s words reached him anyway, injuring and poisoning an important part of the teen’s soul.

Suddenly the demoness stood up and grabbed Yukio’s hand before the teen managed to react.

“Let’s go!” she exclaimed.

“Where?” asked Yukio in a husky, hardly audible voice. He suddenly understood that it was his first word from the start of nightmare.

“At home, of course,” she answered confidently. “I think, your great father will be pleased to meet you!”


	6. Chapter 6

The demoness dragged Yukio after her with inhuman strength. The teen hadn’t even a chance to escape her grip.

“Where are you dragging me?” he asked once more.

“To Gehenna, the place you really belong,” the woman answered, quite casually. “Blue flames are the symbol of royalty. You have no need to stay among those pests”.

The demoness opened the door of some abandoned warehouse and dragged Yukio there. The room was gloom, damp with great number of old big boxes. The dim light made things hardly visible. Moreover, there was a strange, sickening and at the same time intoxicating smell.

“What the matter with those ‘blue flames’?” yelled Yukio angrily. The demoness kept on mentioned them solemnly as if she was praying to her wicked god. The teen’s mind was strained to the breaking point. He felt strange, nearly impossible mixture of fear and anger. And then Yukio actually saw them. A flame of unusual bright blue colour burst from his body, making the demoness loose her grip. For a moment it danced in the air, magnificent, mesmerizing, really **_beautiful_** , yet incredibly violent, dangerous, **_evil_** at the same time. Yukio knew that feeling too well. That flame was the same as the darkest part of his soul, which the teen tried to chase away nearly for many years. Moreover, it was the same as that power, which saved his life not so long ago.

_Those blue flames were inseparable part of him, true embodiment of the teen’s darkness and will to life._

That unpleasant realization struck Yukio like thunderbolt. It was too much. Why it had to be him? He was a good person, not a demon.

‘Oh, really?’ chuckled the part of Yukio’s subconscious. ‘Stop living in denial world. A good person? What a joke!’

The demoness was looking at him strangely all the time. At one moment, Yukio really wondered if she was able to read his mind. The strange woman only rose his suspicions when she asked:

“It feels so good to inflict the pain, isn’t it?”

Yukio flinched because of those words, then replied angrily:

“No! Besides, the blue flame’s injured you twice, hasn’t it?”

“This kind of thought is so human-like,” sneered the demoness. “There’s no need to show mercy”.

Yukio wanted to protest, even opened his mouth to speak when all of the sudden it hit him. The woman didn’t hold him anymore. The teen had chance to try to run away, yet he still stood there, speaking with the demoness. Was it because of curiousity? Was it because he actually wanted to know the truth? Or maybe, because he actually felt that he was a _demon?_

No, it wasn’t right, that kind of thought. Yukio took a step backwards and had nearly fallen over something. The teen nearly screamed when he realized what it was. A human body. A corpse of bald man in the strange uniform, with horrible slashes on the whole body and covered with blood. So that strange smell in the air was the smell of blood. Yukio turned pale because of the gory sight and covered his mouth trying not to vomit.

“An exorcist,” noted the demoness nonchalantly as if she answered his silent question. “Killed that pain in the neck before our meeting”.

“Why?” whispered Yukio still staring at the dead man. It was easy to imagine that the exorcist had family and friends, some hopes and dreams. Death took it all away.

“What does it mean?” the woman looked surprised. “It was an **_exorcist_**. He was my enemy. He wanted to kill me”, she explained it slowly, in simple words, like convincing a foolish child.

“It isn’t right…” murmured Yukio.

“Do you really believed in this shit, young master?” the demoness asked him mockingly. “Do you know, what is funny? If he met you, he would kill you before you managed to open your mouth. You’re Satan’s spawn, mortal enemy of Assiah, after all…”

“No, I’m…” the teen tried to protest, to convince that person that she was wrong. No, it seemed he tried to convince himself. Yukio never finished his phrase as the demoness suddenly silenced him and pulled the boy behind the boxes.

“Be quiet”, whispered the demoness. “It seems we have another pain in ass here. These annoying exorcists… Here, take it!” she tossed Yukio a sharp, blood-stained dagger.

The teen caught it automatically, but then flung the weapon away with disgust as if it was poisonous snake.

“Don’t be stupid!” hissed the woman. “It’s for self-defense. This exorcist won’t hesitate to kill you. You’re demon, not some human child. Moreover, that pest seems more powerful. Here’s the plan: I’ll attract the attention and you’ll finish them…”

She came out from their shelter before Yukio had chance to protest. He didn’t want to murder anybody, yet unconsciously he reached for the dropped dagger. The teen didn’t dare to look out, however he was listening attentively to every sound.

The door of the warehouse creaked, then followed the sound of somebody footsteps. A quiet curse – it seemed that the exorcist noticed the corpse. Some savage growling – was it the demoness attack? Then a woman’s scream and a crash of falling boxes followed by the strange chant. Yukio gripped the dagger and tried to understand the words without any success. It wasn’t Japanese. Latin? The only sure thing was that the exorcist was male.

The demoness growled once more:

“Bastard! You think you are able to exorcise me? I possess this body for ages, so the link is inseparable…”

“So that makes everything much easier,” the voice of the exorcist was calm and grave serious. Somehow it seemed familiar to Yukio, however the teen couldn’t remember where he heard it.

A gun shot. Some cursing. The teen jerked as if stung praying for everything to end soon.

“Young master, where are you?” yelled the demoness with rage. “Why don’t you…” another gunshot silenced her for good.

Yukio was still in shock. His first wish was to come out from his hideout and run to his savior. His reason prevented him from doing so. That man didn’t come to save him, he came to defeat the demon.

_‘You’re Satan’s spawn, mortal enemy of Assiah ... You’re demon, not some human child’._

The woman’s words crossed Yukio’s mind once more, his knuckles white against the dagger. The teen didn’t want to fight, yet…

_‘This exorcist won’t hesitate to kill you’._

The boy didn’t know if he was able to attack. But he didn’t want to die, he simply wasn’t ready for it. There were so many sad moments in Yukio’s life. He simply longed for at least some happiness. Was is too much to wish?

The teen focused on the sounds once more, hoping that the exorcist would go away. Alas, the hardly audible footsteps proved the opposite. It seemed that the demon’s last words somehow alarmed the man and now he was looking for her accomplice.

The footsteps approached. Yukio decided to escape carefully, he ducked and moved behind the boxes to the exit. The boy nearly succeeded as now he needed only to turn round the corner.

A black figure appeared before the teen out of blue. Instinctively Yukio backed away, holding the dagger out in front of him as he faced the shotgun pointed strait into his face.

The mere seconds became an eternity as Yukio recognized his foster father, the person whom he really loved and respected for all his life. The little moments of happiness from the times which he spent together with Father Fujimoto flashed through the teen’s mind. Next moment all those precious memories shattered like broken glass.

“Why?” it was only Yukio’s thought.

Shiro was shocked as well. He was looking for demon’s accomplice, so when he noticed some noise, the man went to check. Shiro pointed his gun reflexively when he saw somebody. Yes, it was only stupid reflex, yet he created the biggest rift ever.

Father Fujimoto saw a complicated mixture of feelings inside Yukio’s turquoise eyes. Pain, terror, desperation and what’s more – feeling of being betrayed. That moment the man understood that everything would never be the same. His foster son would never be able to forgive this stupid misunderstanding…       


	7. Chapter 7

Yes, it was only misunderstanding. Shiro would never point his gun at Yukio on his will. The priest knew it for sure. Maybe, many years ago (which he also seriously doubted), but definitely not now. Shiro had to admit that the teen had become a real son for him. Sometimes the man even forgot about Yukio’s true lineage. For him the boy was the same as any other kid of his age, not some despicable monster, threat to Assiah or Satan’s spawn. Yukio was Yukio – a good, reliable, hard-working boy with the dream to become a doctor, to help other people. The son every father could only dream of.

Shiro knew it, yet he didn’t think Yukio thought the same at the moment. The exorcist could only guess what had happened before his arrival. Two murdered members of True Cross Order – had Yukio witnessed those deaths?  A female demon – why hadn’t she hurt the teen? Had she recognized him as one of her kin or even as the son of Gehenna ruler? Most likely. Otherwise, why would demoness request Yukio’s help? Then… Had that woman told the teen anything? If so, what had she told? What did lead to this awkward situation, when the teen and his foster father didn’t dare to face each other?

The man took out the mobile phone and tried to call one very annoying person. Nevertheless, he was maybe only person who was able to help in this situation. Alas, he never took the call.

‘Damn Mephisto,’ thought the man with slight irritation. ‘Where the hell are you?’

Shiro knew that Yukio had hidden behind the boxes as soon as he recovered from initial shock. For a moment, the man wondered why the teen hadn’t left that damned storehouse for good, but then he realized: Yukio simply didn’t know where to go. For all his live, the monastery was the only home he knew. The teen probably thought now that such holy place wasn’t for a demon, like him.

Shiro frowned. This awkward silence couldn’t continued anymore. The man knew that situation was partially his fault. If he told his foster son everything before, it would never end like this.

“Yukio,” Shiro called hoping for some kind of response. He never got an answer, so the priest continued:

“Look, Yukio, I know, you’re terrified, but we have no time for it. I won’t be surprised if demons are already looking for the source of blue flame. At least, some of them actually felt it…”

The priest went round the boxes. As he thought, Yukio was still sitting there, still holding onto dagger. The boy turned round as soon as he had heard the approaching footsteps. Next moment he leapt up, desperation and fear in his eyes, somehow reminding a cornered animal. It was really painful for Shiro to see his foster son like this.

“Yukio, we need to get out of here…” continued the priest. The important conversation was now unavoidable. But not in the moment, and definitely not in this place.

“Am I really a demon? The spawn of Satan?” Yukio’s voice was nearly inaudible, yet for Shiro it sounded like a thunder.

“Look, Yukio, it doesn’t…”

“Am I a demon?” demanded the teen. His eyes were radiating a silent plea. What was he hoping to hear? The truth? Or, maybe, a sweet lie to keep him in the dark? Shiro wasn’t sure. Yet he knew he couldn’t lie anymore. He simply had no right. Actually, never had. No matter how cruel it was. So, the priest decided to tell the truth. Or at least, part of it. The man could save the detailed explanation for more appropriate place.

“You’re half-demon, child of human mother and Satan… Actually, you’re younger of two twins. I raised you… As for your elder brother, he most probably ended in Gehenna…” Shiro paused, trying to read the teen’s reaction. Yukio was silent. For a second, the priest even wondered if his foster son was able to understand his words. After all, the boy faced too much for a single day not so long before.

The man sighed and reached for something, hidden inside his coat. Yukio flinched as he remembered Shiro’s gun. Yet, the man took out not a gun, even if it was a weapon as well. Yukio watched the traditional sword with utter horror. So, it was true. Exorcists were really mortal enemies, desiring his death.  His foster father was the same.

Seconds turned into eternity. Yukio waited for Shiro to take out the sword and kill him. It was only logical income, wasn’t it? So why hadn’t the priest slashed him yet? Why did he prolonged that mental torture? The teen was so tensed that he didn’t at first heard his foster father’s explanation.

“… Kurikara sword. It was used to seal the blue flames, both your brother’s and yours” the end of the phrase reached Yukio at last. “As long as Kurikara sword remains unsheathed your humanity is safe…”

The teen tried to clear his head, but failed… It was too much. His whole world collapsed. His previous life was utter lie. He even wasn’t a human. His guardian was a sworn enemy of his real father, who, by the way, turned out to be the most horrible demon you could imagine, Satan himself. Moreover, did he really have an elder twin? Seriously, it looked like some ridiculous nightmare. Yukio simply wanted to wake up…

The nightmare continued. After all, it wasn’t just a dream, it was cruel, unfair reality.

Yukio didn’t know what to do. Try to get away? Then what would prevent Shiro to shoot him? Attack? No way, the teen would never be able to win that encounter. After all, the priest killed the demoness quite easily, and Yukio was sure she had much more battle experience than he did.

It seemed the teen had no other choice than to obey his foster father. Yukio didn’t know what would happen next, but somehow, everything had lost its meaning.  He had enough for one day. What was the reason to struggle after all? There was no more home or family, definitely not for demon like him. There was no more place to return.  It didn’t matter anymore if he died or, maybe, was tortured.

No, something still mattered. One simple question. Yukio couldn’t help asking it. Well, he didn’t think the answer would change anything, yet…

“How…” the teen began, but stopped immediately.

‘ _Don’t ask. Please, don’t ask. He has always cared for me,’_ nearly begged that small part of him, which still clang to his old human life. _‘If you ask, there will be no turning back…’_

_‘So what?’_ demanded other part. _‘There is already no turning back. Cared? Stop living in denial world! He is a servant of God. I’m demon child’._

That mental argument didn’t last longer than few seconds, yet for Yukio it seemed eternal. Nevertheless, the second inner voice had won and the teen repeated his question:

“So how it was, to raise a little demon?”

Yukio had no intention to put any emotion into that question, yet it sounded really rude. Moreover, the teen suddenly understood that he couldn’t  hold back anymore. It was unstoppable like an avalanche or flood breaking down a dam. Negative emotions, suppressed for many years, now unexpectedly forced themselves forward.

“It had to be entertaining, hadn’t it?” continued the boy. “It was really funny to watch little wolf trying to get along with lambs and freaking out every time when his instincts kicked in, wasn’t it? So what, was I a good pet? I know some people prefer odd pets like tigers or crocodiles… Yeah, maybe, demons are much more unusual… Or, maybe, it was kind of experiment, wasn’t it? To find some weaknesses or something like that…  Am I right?”

Deep inside Yukio was horrified by his own rudeness. It was so unlike him. Maybe, if the teen had more time, he would suppress all that resentment and bitterness of being betrayed. Maybe, he would even thought up some good reasons for his adopted father to act like that. Alas, at the moment he was at the edge and lost any reason.

And Shiro simply didn’t know what to say back. Suddenly he realized that his foster son hadn’t been as happy as he had previously thought. The priest had noticed that Yukio had some problems with other children, yet he couldn’t even imagine them to be so serious. He failed once more. First, he wasn’t able to save little Rin, then couldn’t become good father for Yukio. Shiro felt that he had no right to make any excuse for himself. He was guilty because he had never noticed his foster son’s problems and because he had never trusted him enough to reveal the truth. This situation was the most logical result, yet it hurt him greatly, causing him to lose his mental defense.

That was grave mistake. Shiro realized it that moment when he sensed approaching overwhelming evil he hadn’t sensed for many year. Only one entity in universe could possess such rage, such pure hatred and desire to destroy. Satan, the God of Gehenna, true embodiment of evil. Yukio’s real father.

“Yukio, run!” Shiro yelled, hoping that the teen would at least try to get away.

It was too late. Yukio was frozen in place, too stunned to move, as he felt approaching darkness as well. For some reason it horrified the teen, as if it was terror itself. He couldn’t understand what was happening, yet somehow he knew intuitively that all previous situation was only beginning.

“Long time no see, Yuki-chan” an eerie, unearthly voice rang through the warehouse. “Well, you were too young last time…”

Yukio shivered as he looked at Shiro. No, it wasn’t Shiro anymore, as now he possessed some demonic features – pointed ears, horrible sharp teeth and maniacal eyes. Moreover, bright blue flame was dancing around his body.

The teen knew really little about demons, however, he easily realized that his foster father was possessed. Furthermore, he wasn’t possessed by any random demon. Blue flame was the best proof of it. Blue flame, which as Yukio had learned, was an attribute of Satan.

“I see, you’ve grown so big,” continued Satan with maniacal grin. “You looked so pathetic as a baby… I actually thought of you as a failure… Who would think you would inherit my power as well? Good thing, I hadn’t got rid of you, as planned”.

The demon suddenly noticed the sword on the floor, picked it up and examined carefully.

“Kurikara sword,” he mused. “So, somebody really messed with my plan… Well, they won’t get away when I find their identity… To think that somebody actually dared to oppose me… Anyway, as soon as I break this annoying seal I will get my _real_ children… What do you think, Yuki-chan? Isn’t it better to gain your true power than being stuck as pathetic teen?” 

Yukio swallowed dryly. As a demon child, he had to be glad that his real father saved him from the exorcist, yet somehow it didn’t feel right. The teen stepped back and tripped backwards over something.

Satan noticed his poor attempt to get away and laughed hysterically.

“My, my, Yuki-chan, where are you going? You’re so lost and lonely, with no home or family… Let’s go back, to your real home… Now, hug your daddy!”

“Stay away!” Yukio yelled in panic. His blue flames burst once more, reacting to his fear.

“That won’t do, Yuki-chan,” Satan grin became even crazier. “Children have to obey their parents. Hasn’t your guardian brought you up well? It seems I need to educate your more… Be a good boy. Soon we’ll get into Gehenna and I’ll break this stupid sword. It will be so much better to be yourself…”

The demon grabbed horrified teen by the collar. Yukio even didn’t try to resist. Somehow, he understood that he had no chance against that demon, no, against his father. Those blue flames seemed really deadly. True embodiment of destruction. And this world seemed to reject such an abomination.

Shiro’s possessed body suffered greatly because of Satan. The blood was dripping from the man’s eyes, nose and mouth. Satan himself seemed to be quite annoyed because of that fact.

“See, Yuki-chan? Nothing in Assiah can withstand my power… I can’t possess anybody to long. But your brother and you are different. Real masterpiece. Great weapon to devastate Assiah!”

Satan broke some of Shiro’s fingers, drawing great amount of blood and began to chant something in some strange language. Yukio tried to follow those words, but they only inflicted a terrible headache. Whatever was the meaning it definitely wasn’t something good.

An odd gateway appeared on the floor, a gateway which seemed to be alive.

“Welcome to Gehenna, the place, where you really belong to!” exclaimed Satan.

Well, maybe, it was true. Maybe, it really was only place for demon child like him. Yukio didn’t want to live hiding from exorcists, neither he didn’t want to be their toy, yet… Somehow, it wasn’t right to go to Gehenna.

_“Isn’t it much better to be true to yourself?”_

A random memory came to the teen all of the sudden. Yukio couldn’t get why he actually remembered Rin, that weird teen he met only once, in this kind of situation. Nevertheless, that memory actually helped him come to the senses. Be true to himself? What did he really want? There was an answer, previously covered by doubts and fear.

Yukio didn’t want to come to Gehenna. He didn’t want to be a demon. He want to come back to the monastery, to his _real home_ , to continue live his common live. It didn’t matter if it was only beautiful lie. The teen was ready to fight for it…


	8. Chapter 8

… _He didn’t like that place at all. For a little boy like him it seemed too strange, too unfriendly. All those big, somehow scary, grey stones with kanji, which he didn’t know… Besides, the weather wasn’t good for a walk. It was cold, gloomy day with strong, piercing wind._

_Yukio shivered, clenching Shiro’s hand more tightly. The little boy didn’t know why they had come here. He simply wanted to return home. However, Yukio was afraid to upset his father, so he kept quiet. Well, at least, he tried._

_“What is this place?” a sudden timid question surprised even Yukio himself, but Shiro only smiled sadly and answered:_

_“A place we come when we want to speak with dead…”_

_The boy was a bit puzzled, yet didn’t asked anything else. The topic of death remained quite a mystery for him, after all he was only six years old. Yukio even didn’t fully understand what that ‘death’ was. Not so long ago he had heard that word for a first time and then bombarded monastery priests with questions about it. The boy simply couldn’t understand why all of them looked so perplexed. Well, the men just had no idea how to explain the complicated concept of death to little child. In the end one of them actually mumbled something like:_

_“The death is… It’s… ehm… When somebody leaves and never comes back…” the priest was kind of proud of such a convenient answer. Alas, the joy wasn’t long, as Yukio’s next question completely defeated the man:_

_“Why?”_

_The priest couldn’t think anything better than running away…_

_So, Yukio hadn’t found the answer for his question that time, but now he actually wondered if all those ‘dead’ people wanted to leave their families and friend. Otherwise, why would there be such places?_

_Yukio was too young to know about death, funerals or graveyards, so he wasn’t able to fully understand the solemn silence of this cemetery or glimpse of grief in Shiro’s eyes._

_“What does really matter?” suddenly the man broke the silence. It seemed he spoke rather to himself then to his foster son. “Some says it’s the way you live. Some – the way you die. Well, without any doubts, it’s really important. But isn’t it the most significant if somebody remembers you even after you’re gone?”_

_The boy looked at his guardian with curiosity. He didn’t know that he would fully understand those words only nine years later…_

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Tick-tock… Tick-tock…

The clock was ticking, showing that the flow of time was really unstoppable.

Yukio was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, his back against the cold wall of the room, staring off into space. Kurikara sword lay beside him, yet he didn’t look at it. The teen felt _empty_. Some time ago he was overwhelmed with mixture of pain, rage, grief and bitterness, he punched the walls, hurting his knuckles and yelled, no, even probably howled, like a wounded beast. Now all those feelings were gone. Burned like a firewood, leaving only the ashes.

How much time had passed? An hour? A day? A century? Or, maybe, he had already died and that was his personal eternal hell?

No, it couldn’t possibly be the hell, otherwise there would be Satan. Sudden thought somehow revived Yukio’s emotions. It seems some embers remained under the ashes, setting a new fire. No matter, what the teen thought, he was still alive.

And yet it seemed so much easier to die, as Yukio for a thousandth time remembered that horrible day…

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He didn’t want to go to Gehenna. Now Yukio was certain about it. He wanted to come back to the monastery and have that talk with Shiro, which he deliberately avoided. Maybe, all misunderstanding might be cleared and everything would be as before. No, even better, because there would be no more lies.

So Yukio tried to kick Satan, even if it was useless. At least, he struggled for his own future instead of letting the fate to decide.

Satan seemed somehow surprised of this sudden resistance.

“What are you doing, Yuki-chan?” he inquired mockingly.

“Let me go!” yelled the teen angrily. “I want to go home! And leave me alone! I’m not your son!”

“Bullshit,” growled Satan, slightly irritated. “Of course, you are!” and he threw the teen into the gate.

“No, he isn’t…” the thick, gasping voice retorted. “I won’t let you to take away _my_ son. I won’t make the same mistake twice”.

“Father…” whispered Yukio in bewilderment. It seemed nearly impossible to break Satan’s possession, yet Shiro actually managed to do it.

“YOU!!!” roared Satan.

“I won’t regret my actions anymore…” a small smile appeared on the man’s face as he reached for his pin. “Yukio, I wish I were much better father. Forgive me my foolishness and be strong…”

The time slowed down as the teen was watching the pin piercing his father’s heart and some blood splatters. Father Fujimoto chased away Satan, but at such a cost.

Alas, the gates were still there, pulling the teen down with unstoppable force.

No, there was a way to oppose the gates. Yukio knew it from the  beginning, but simply was too scared of it. Blue flames, the most destructive and evil power in universe. But now it didn’t matter anymore. His foster father had given his life only to help Yukio. So had the teen any right to throw away that sacrifice? Even if it meant to abandon his humanity. Even if it meant to take away humanity from his long lost elder brother. For a moment, Yukio decided to be a selfish bastard and do what he wanted. After all, they said you needed a greater evil to crush the evil.

The teen felt the handle of the sword. Was it cold or hot? For some reason it burned his hand. Yukio ignored that feeling and unsheathed the sword, releasing true power of blue flame, contained there for many years. It was really strong, like if somebody tried to put out the fire with gasoline. For a second the flames overwhelmed Yukio with pure rage and hatred and he slashed the gates with all of his might, destroying them without leaving a trace.

It would be so much easier to submit to darkness, to continue rampaging, yet the tiny bit of the teen’s remaining humanity stopped him and he sheathed the sword. Yukio sank on his knees, dropping Kurikara and feeling the tears streaming down his cheeks…

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Everything that followed remained clouded in Yukio’s memory. It seemed he actually managed to phone the monastery, but the teen didn’t remember what he had said. Neither he could recollect the priests reactions when they arrived. It seemed somebody tried shook the teen up without any results. Yukio even couldn’t get how he managed to return to the monastery. He most probably followed the men absent-mindedly, then went to his room and locked the door from the inside.

Only then Yukio once more felt the burden of emotions. He yelled in impotent rage and kicked frantically his desk. A sheet of paper fell on the floor. The teen stooped down automatically to pick up it and froze as he had recognized a familiar handwriting.

_Dear Yukio…_

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The letter was full of regret and determination. Yukio would never think his foster father really suffered. Now, as the teen had learned all the truth, he couldn’t forgive himself. For what reason had he said such horrible things to Shiro? Moreover, why were they his last words to his foster father?

Yukio had never actually said to Father Fujimoto how much he loved and respected him, had never said that he actually considered him a real father. And now he would never be able to say all those words of affection remained unspoken.

_Yukio, I don’t know if I have a right to be forgiven, but anyway I’ll accept any of your decisions. I believe in you. You’re a good boy, so your decisions can’t be bad. Just remember: your heart is only thing that matters. Demon or human, you’re still Yukio._

_Never abandon your dreams and be happy…_

The teen gritted his teeth. Never abandon his dreams? Be happy? What a joke! A sinner like him had no right to be happy. The bitterness, grief and rage returned as Yukio kicked the desk once more.

He hated Satan for causing Shiro’s death. He hated blue flames for being reminder of his true heritage. But most of all, he hated himself for being the main reason of his foster father’s death…


	9. Chapter 9

A middle-aged dark-haired policeman drummed his fingers on the table. He had much experience, yet couldn’t help admitting that the situation was really something.

Some hours ago they brought here a teen, most probably run-away, who had got into some fights and caused the ruckus in local supermarket. Moreover, the boy tried to get away from police and even hit some of them.

Now the young troublemaker was sitting before the man. As the policeman mentally noted, he wasn’t much older than his son. Fourteen, maybe fifteen. Unruly black hair. Incredibly blue eyes.

The man sighed. What had he done to anger his superiors? Why was he responsible for this kid?

“I’ll ask you for the last time. What is your name?” the policeman asked with quite noticeable irritation.

“And I’ll answer you once more,” replied the boy with the same irritation. “I’m Rin. Are you dumb or deaf, or something?”

The man groaned. The teen most likely mocked him.

“I asked you about your family name,” muttered the policeman, trying to regain self-control.

“Family name?” Rin looked puzzled. Suddenly he remembered that Yukio actually said that his name was Oku-something Yukio. Was that family name? Anyway, he didn’t have any.

The policeman facepalmed with sudden realization that he wouldn’t get a thing. So, he continued:

“Are you run-away?”

“Yeah,” was the immediate reply.

“Well, at least, something…” murmured the man. “So why have you caused the ruckus in the supermarket?”

“I’ve said before. There were some lesser demons… Well, it doesn’t seem you will understand…”

Great, now he pretended to be insane. Or was he really? The policeman decided to ignore that ridiculous statement.

“Well, I’m going to contact your parents… Can you give me your mother’s number?”

“She’s dead,” answered Rin plainly.

“Oh, I’m sorry… Then, your father’s?” continued the man.

The teen looked at him strangely, then murmured:

“I seriously doubt you will be able to reach him…”

In any other situation the man would probably inquired more information, but now it would be really better to forget about that ‘unreachable’ father.

“Any other relatives?” he demanded weakly.

“Well, I don’t know…” Rin seemed lost in thought. Suddenly his face brightened: “Samael!”

“Who?” asked the policeman in astonishment. The name definitely sounded foreign. “Who is it?”

“My half-brother”.

‘Great,’ thought the man grimly. ‘Now he has a brother with weird name… What will be the next?’

“OK, I’ve understand. So where can I find your brother?”

“Don’t know”.

The policeman facepalmed once more, cursing hardly audibly.

“But Amaimon said he is kind of big man in True-something” continued Rin.

“True Cross Academy?” inquired the policeman, clutching at his temples – all this situation caused a terrible headache. He didn’t even want to know who the hell was that Amaimon.

“Yeah, something similar,” nodded the teen.

“Whatever,” groaned the man. “Sit here, I’ll call there…”

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The biggest surprise for the policeman was that somebody in True Cross Academy actually knew that Samael. Moreover, they said somebody would pick up Rin. At least, now he could sigh with relief. Alas, it was too soon as ridiculous day continued.

“Kawada-san,” a young policewoman called to him. “A man’s come to see that teen”.

She looked strangely, as if she tried to suppress giggles. Kawada raised his eyebrows in puzzlement but still went to meet that person. The mystery of the girl’s odd behavior was solved as soon as the policeman spotted the visitor. It wasn’t too difficult as that man actually stood out because of his ridiculous outfit.

For a second poor Kawada seriously hoped that the visitor came for another reason. Alas, his hopes were broken.

“Are you Kawada-san?” the visitor asked in a sing-song voice. “I’m Johann Faust V. Nice to meet you” next moment he was shaking Kawada’s hand violently.

The policeman was really shocked. Johann Faust was the principal of True Cross Academy with reputation of quite an extravagant person. What was he doing here? Well, Kawada never got a chance to ask any questions as Faust continued:

“I’ve heard that poor little Rin-chan caused a lot of grief. You have to forgive this foolish boy… He was raised far away from this city, in entirely different environment. He’s never had many friends as he kind of awkward in socializing with peers… Rin seems to be rude but deep inside he is poor fragile boy with great need of attention…”

“OK, I’ve understood,” nodded Kawada, interrupting seemingly long monologue about teen’s struggles and problems. He had just got rid of the headache and didn’t want to have another one. “The boy is right here…” and he showed the way.

As two men entered the room, Rin reacted immediately, springing from his seat and shouting in bewilderment:

“Samael! What’s the hell with this outfit?!”

“Samael?” asked Kawada with surprise.

“That’s my nickname,” whispered Faust. Then he added much louder:

“So that is how you greet your dear elder brother? My, aren’t it rude?”

“I refuse to admit any relationship with the person wearing pink,” stated Rin boldly. “I’d better stay here!”

“Rebellious age, you see,” sighed Faust overdramatically. “Besides, he’s always been a troublemaker. I’ll pay for all damage my foolish little brother caused”.

Kawada agreed weakly. Any other day he would actually lecture both the troublemaker and his guardian, but today the policeman was definitely fed up with strange, probably slightly insane teenager and his ridiculous elder brother. He definitely felt like he needed a vacation now…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rin really had high expectations for Samael before he actually met him. In Gehenna his elder brother seemed to the teen an evasive person, playing his own game. But at the moment Rin actually doubted his initial impression. The more he thought, the more Samael looked like a clown or, what worse, utter fool. No wonder, he wasn’t afraid of Satan.

Rin was sitting at the Samael’s office, looking around with curiosity. Maybe, the teen didn’t know too much about Assiah, but he was entirely sure it wasn’t appropriate office even for some random demon, let alone for the King of Time. Rin’s disappointment only became deeper. He even actually began to wonder if it was much better to look for Lucifer instead.

Samael was sitting before him with a look of pure amusement, which Rin intuitively didn’t like at all. At last, his elder brother broke the silence:

“Have you come here to play, Rin-chan?” he asked mockingly. “You know, Assiah is my playground, so you need to follow my rules, even if I’m extremely kind, patient and caring big brother”.

Rin snorted. He didn’t like both the tone and being called ‘Rin-chan’. Besides, that phrase about ‘extremely kind, patient and caring big brother’ sounded fishy at least. Samael might be a clown, but he still remained a demon.

“I’ve come here to find a thing sealing my true power and break it,” stated Rin, deciding to be honest. “They say, you’re related to exorcists, so you must know”.

“Maybe,” the man smiled cunningly. “And then?”

“I’m going to return, overthrow Satan and change Gehenna, so that…” Rin didn’t finish as he heard one particular and very familiar sound. Samael was laughing. Besides, it wasn’t some snicker or chuckle, no, he was laughing like a mad, nearly falling from his chair.

“Overthrow? Father? Really, it’s something! I have brothers who tried to oppose him or meddle with his plans, but your idea is definitely something new! Do you really think that you’ll be able to defeat Gehenna’s god himself? Are you dumb?”

Rin frowned, getting angry:

“If you don’t want to help, I can manage for myself!”

“I’ve said you’re dumb, not that I’m not going to help you,” sang Samael. “Lately Gehenna grows extremely dull and boring. Somebody needs to stir up that place”.

Rin looked at his brother with clear doubt. Samael definitely didn’t believe at him, so his willingness to help was simply beyond any comprehension. On other hand, the teen knew that it would be nearly impossible to get any help from any other demon. Not anybody was ready to oppose Satan. Some were simply afraid of him, some considered him a god and some were simply agree with his policy. Rin hated to admit it, but the help from Samael might be his only chance…


	10. Chapter 10

The situation certainly got more and more interesting. Mephisto reflected with clear amusement how only some days before he had nothing to do. But now there was his younger brother with his totally insane revolutionary ideas. Moreover the King of Time felt there would be something more, either good or bad, but definitely not boring.

It never ceased to amuse Mephisto, how Rin had managed to avoid exorcists’ attention for all the time he already had spent in Gehenna. It was really poor luck that the teen had ended in the police station and not in the Grigory Headquarters after all that ruckus he had caused. Otherwise, it would turn quite ugly. While it was pretty easy to explain a demon roaming the city and more difficult, but still possible to explain a half-demon, it was surely impossible to provide any reasonable explanation why the half-demon son of Satan, presumably dead for fifteen years, suddenly reappeared in Assiah and caused some disturbance. In that case both Mephisto and Fujimoto Shiro would be in deep shit. Well, at least, Shiro would be. The demon was pretty sure he could get away even in that situation, while he couldn’t say that about the priest, whose actions irritated Vatican for many years.

Well, after all, those remained only theories. It was more important to think about next steps now. Mephisto could simply tell Rin the truth, but then it would be extremely dull. The King of Time nearly immediately thought out another plan. Wasn’t that amusing to send the teen to Shiro and let the priest explain everything himself? Mephisto could actually imagine Paladin’s priceless expression when he saw Rin. Well, maybe the teen’s expression if he learned about his younger teen might rival it. Moreover, there would be Yukio as well…

Mephisto took out his mobile phone deciding to call Shiro and suddenly chuckled. Definitely, the day became more and more interesting. It seemed the priest had actually phoned him and even more than once. It was something new. Shiro would never call Mephisto for fun or because of petty problems. That meant only…

“SAMAEL!!!” a sudden yell interrupted Mephisto’s train of thought. Next moment Rin broke into his study. He looked stunned and agitated.

“That… those…” the teen seemingly struggled, searching for the words.

“What’s happened?” asked the man.

“Blue flames!” exclaimed Rin, still shocked. “They were there for a moment, I swear! And they were really powerful! They vanished soon, but… Look!” the teen raised his hand. Next moment a tiny blue flame appeared on his palm. “Before I couldn’t summon even something like this, no matter how hard I tried… Even if it isn’t as great as some moments ago…”

Rin actually looked confused. For many years blue flame appeared against his will and only when he was enraged. Even then it wasn’t anything more than some tiny sparkles. However only few moments ago the teen felt something that actually could rival Satan’s power.

“Oho,” murmured Mephisto, more to himself than to his brother. “The seal… So that’s it…”

“The seal?” asked the teen, quite puzzled. He didn’t get an answer as Samael seemed to be lost in thought.

Somebody had unsheathed Kurikara for sure. But who? Shiro? Even idea of it seemed ridiculous. It was much easier to imagine Satan dancing in pink tutu than something like that. Then, some demon or even the god of Gehenna himself? Even less likely. They more probably would break the seal for good.

No, there was only one person to unsheathed Kurikara and then sheathed it back. Mephisto remembered a serious bespectacled teen. Okumura Yukio, the younger of two twins, who most likely inherited blue flames as well. Because of Shiro’s overprotectiveness, Samael had never actually had a chance to approach his youngest brother, yet he always observed the teen from the distance. It never ceased to amaze the King of Time how different Yukio was from Rin. Sometimes they seemed total opposites to him. Yet Mephisto couldn’t help thinking that the twins could actually form a perfect duo.

However, it was too early to judge the situation without any facts. Mephisto decided to wait for any news…

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The news of Fujimoto Shiro’s sudden death caused uproar in True Cross Order. The death of Paladin wasn’t a joke. Vatican ordered throughout investigation of the case and they would definitely find the truth if Mephisto hadn’t interfered.

The demon knew that it would do no good, if the risky scheme involving Satan’s twin sons would even come out into the light. The teens would most likely be executed. Shiro’s reputation would be crashed (well, he was already dead, so he would suffer the least). As for Mephisto himself he probably would lose even that tiny trust from Vatican he already had. Not that it was an important matter, yet it still would be quite troublesome.

So Mephisto tried his best to cover the situation. First, he volunteered to conduct investigation himself, then appointed some of the young and quite obedient exorcist to assist him.

Mephisto suspected Satan’s involvement. He knew Fujimoto for too long to believe in idea that some random demon would be able to kill him. Moreover, the demon was pretty sure that Shiro might actually be in par with some of his brothers. But if Satan was really involved it would be extremely difficult to explain for what reason he attacked Paladin and why now. So, even if Mephisto had already thought out a couple of back-up stories, he actually preferred to cover Satan’s involvement, so that he deliberately excluded anybody who witnessed Blue Night.

And it seemed to be a really wise decision. It was simply impossible to confuse the scorch marks left by blue flames with ones left by any other flame. Shiro’s wounds as well were really suspicious. Fortunately, the young investigators were afraid to fail the mission, so they agreed with every Mephisto’s statement, no matter how doubtful it was.

Moreover, the testimonies suddenly turned out to play onto Mephisto’s hand. The priests from Shiro’s monastery claimed to be only eyewitnesses. Their story about some demons’ sudden attack seemed not only plausible, but actually flawless, without any contradictions. Mephisto knew it was certain lie, made-up to cover real situation, but still couldn’t help admire the priests’ actions. They seemed to discuss every tiny detail and predict every question, so that it would be impossible to catch any of them on the lie.

Those priests really amused Mephisto. He actually knew before, that all of them were kind of outcasts in True Cross Order, some because of their rebellious actions, some because they actually doubted Grigory's decisions. They all most probably would be kicked out from the Order long time ago if Shiro hadn’t intervened and given them positions in the monastery. All of the priests surely were extremely loyal to Father Fujimoto. Otherwise, why would all of them help him to hide the existence of Satan’s son, no matter how risky and reckless it was?       

Furthermore, that loyalty remained even after Shiro’s death, so great was the men’s respect and admiration for their deceased leader. No one of them had mentioned Yukio, as if he actually wasn’t present there.

One moment was really dangerous. One of investigators actually remembered that there was a child raised in the monastery and suggested questioning him.

“You’d better not do it,” stated one of the priests, Nagatomo, firmly. “Yukio didn’t see a thing. Besides, he’s not aware of anything related to demons or exorcist. Father Fujimoto forbade us to tell the boy a thing”.

“Why not?” insisted the investigator, suddenly showing dangerous curiousity. “As I’ve heard, the boy is a son of couple murdered by demons. I actually thought it would be reasonable to give him an exorcist training so that he would be able to avenge his family.”

“Father Fujimoto wanted Yukio to live a peaceful and happy life,” interfered Maruta, another one of priests. “Not the one clouded by hatred or revenge… Maybe, one day we will tell him the truth, but for now, he thinks that Father Fujimoto was killed by some crazy psycho.”

“Besides, I really think, it would be better to leave poor boy alone for a while,” continued Nagatomo seriously. “Father Fujimoto was like a real parent to him. This death hit him more than any of us. Are you really so cruel to remind him of his great loss?”

The investigator looked away, quite ashamed and murmured:

“No, of course not… Actually, my father died when I was in my teens, so I kind of understand the boy…”

Mephisto smirked discreetly. The dangerous topic was avoided and investigators actually forgot about Yukio. But those priests were really something. Were they even aware that they were willingly committing a great crime?  Before they at least were able to deny their fault, to claim that Shiro had deceived or even threat them. But no, no one of them turned out to be a scoundrel or traitor. The priests continued Shiro’s mission, protecting Yukio, no matter how risky it was.

Sometimes human beings were really amazing…    


	11. Chapter 11

The investigation was over. The higher-ups seemed to calm down. Maybe some of them still had some suspicions, however they remained silent. For now everybody could sigh with relief.

The funeral of Father Fujimoto turned out to be really quiet. Shiro had no relatives, besides not many exorcists had enough courage to show up for the funeral of the infamous Paladin, who had more often followed his own heart and not the orders.

Mephisto looked around with curiosity. He saw the priests from the monastery, but Yukio wasn’t there. Well, the teen most probably was broken as he in reality was only eyewitness of Father Fujimoto’s death. After investigation Mephisto actually cornered the priests and learned all the truth, or at least that part they knew.

The sky seemed to be crying. Cold raindrops were falling on the earth, so like real tears.

Mephisto was reflecting about Shiro. He wasn’t sad or something. After all, he was a demon and demons couldn’t have friends. Even so, Mephisto couldn’t help admitting that without Shiro everything would never be the same. Fujimoto was really unique and amusing person. The demon really liked to annoy the priest. Moreover, if Mephisto could actually call anybody his friend, it would be only Shiro…

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Mephisto had never planned to leave Yukio alone. Who knew what the teen son of Satan was able to do without proper supervision, especially now, after such loss?

The man actually was going to speak to his youngest brother at the funeral, but that turned out to be impossible. Therefore, the next day Mephisto came to the monastery himself. As soon as the King of Time saw the priests, he understood that he wasn’t welcomed. Well, as he knew neither of the men actually trusted him.

“So you came to Yukio, Sir Pheles,” stated Nagatomo grimly, without any greetings.

“Well, you know that I need to speak with him,” Mephisto smirked. “The situation became rather complicated…”

“Isn’t it better to let Yukio live without any demonic stuff?” asked Izumi with clear hesitation. In fact, he didn’t believe in it as well.

“In current situation?” chuckled the demon. “Isn’t it a bit late?”

The priests frowned. Actually they were seriously worried for Yukio’s mental state. After Fujimoto’s death he seldom left his room and hadn’t told a word to them. Moreover, for the first three days he locked the door and hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. It took a great effort to persuade the teen to eat at least something.

Yukio still seemed not to be able to accept all the truth, especially that part about his heritage and he definitely wasn’t ready to move on…

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Mephisto knocked on the door, but got no answer. It seemed, the priests hadn’t lied about Yukio’s state. So the demon opened the door and entered the room without permission.

Yukio glared at the unexpected visitor, but said nothing. Maybe, in different circumstances the teen would be actually surprised, but now it didn’t matter.

Mephisto examined the boy with interest. Yukio definitely looked bad. He was much paler than usual, with deep shadows under his eyes. His gaze was dull, hollow and lifeless.

The silence certainly spun out, so Mephisto started first:

“When I saw you last time, you looked much more alive”.

“Who are you?” asked Yukio without any interest.

“Mephisto Pheles. Shiro was my friend,” the demon introduced himself, mentally noting that only mentioning of Fujimoto’s name return emotions to the teen’s eyes. But it looked like very complicated mixture of feelings, not so easy to recognize and understand immediately.

“Are you an exorcist?” asked the teen, examining visitor.

“Well, I’m Honorary Knight of True Cross Order, so you can say so,” sang Mephisto.

“After all somebody come to kill me,” said Yukio rather indifferently. “It seems it was too much for Izumi, Maruta, Kyodo and Nagatomo… I was really wondering if they could at least try…”

“And for what reason?”

“Is it a joke?” Yukio gritted his teeth. “Don’t you know yourself that I’m…” the teen stopped. He certainly wasn’t able to end the phrase, to voice that cruel truth.

“Half-demon? Son of Satan?” guessed Mephisto.

Yukio reacted immediately, shouting furiously:

“I’m not his son!”

Mephisto said nothing, looking around with curiosity. He noticed a backpack in the corner and something long wrapped in a couple of sheets. It took some moments to realized that thing was Kurikara. Mephisto chuckled  at his little brother’s really stupid and childish idea. Was he actually thinking that would help to seal blue flames?

“I see you planned to leave the monastery?” the demon asked.

“I’ve never planned to run from exorcists,” muttered Yukio.

“Yet you had something in your mind”.

“Yes,” growled the teen, suddenly showing his anger. “I was going to kill Satan!”

“Oh-ho,” Mephisto chuckled. First, there was Rin with his ridiculous revolutionary idea and now Yukio told him something even more extreme. The King of Time actually wondered if the next of his younger brother he would meet would plan to destroy Gehenna for good. However, the situation became more and more amusing.

“You are not going to kill me, are you?” stated Yukio grimly, interrupting his train of thought.

“Why do you think so?”

“You talk too much,” the teen frowned.

Mephisto smirked. Yukio seemed to be quite reasonable and sharp. Yet he still was too young. Maybe one day the teen would understand that there were plenty of cunning and devious minds around him and that this world was more than simple black and white, as he clearly believed for a moment.

“Well, it will be such a waste after all Shiro’s efforts,” sang the man. “Besides, for a moment, only me, you and priests from the monastery know the truth… Luckily, those guys will never betray their leader and I’m simply not interested… So what are you going to do now?”

Yukio unintentionally looked at the corner, then replied:

“To take revenge, I suppose…”

“Do you think you will have a chance even with blue flames?” asked Mephisto with slight smirk. Really, both twins seriously underestimated Satan. Or did they overestimated themselves and their own abilities?

However, the next answer actually surprised the demon, which was really rare.

“No,” stated Yukio firmly. “I will never let Kurikara leave its sheathe. Not even once. I will never release those damned flames. I’d better die than let anybody break the seal”.

The clear determination in Yukio eyes showed that he didn’t lie. Mephisto wondered what would happen when the teen met his elder twin, who was actually more than eager to break the seal. Most probably it would turn out quite ugly.

“You know, Kurikara isn’t able to suppress blue flames forever,” told Mephisto. “It simply was created for quite different purpose”.

“So what? It will break much earlier if somebody uses it,” disagreed Yukio with a frown. “Besides, I don’t think I’ll live long enough to witness it. When Satan is defeated, I’ll die as well… Those blue flames are too evil to exist in this world…”

Mephisto looked at the boy attentively. Yeah, he certainly hated everything related to Satan, including himself. It was kind of sad. Fujimoto would definitely not approve something like that.

“Haven’t you any meaning to live? What about your dreams?”

“A demon has no right to dream.” that was really firm statement. Yukio had already actually convinced himself. Maybe, he really didn’t see a reason to live anymore. But couldn’t he find a new reason?

“Do you know you have an elder brother?” Mephisto knew he had hit the nail even before he actually ended the question. Yukio flinched; something unreadable appeared in his eyes. Mephisto didn’t know about the teen’s inner conflict, but he saw that his determination wavered.

“He is demon,” said Yukio, as if he was trying to convince somebody, most likely himself. “Cold, violent, merciless demon, raised in Gehenna…”

It was so painful to say it. After all having a brother had been Yukio’s dream for many years. Yet now he was really afraid to meet his brother, who as he thought, was raised by Satan himself. That unknown elder brother most likely possessed those cursed flames as well. Most likely they would be enemies. Yukio was afraid he wouldn’t be able to fight his brother because of that childhood dream. Yet, he most probably would be forced to do it. So, the sooner the teen severed any ties the better it would be.

“Have you actually met him?” asked Mephisto for the sake of appearances. The answer was surely ‘no’. Only somebody really dumb or entirely insane could call Rin ‘cold, violent, merciless demon’. For Mephisto he looked more like extremely reckless teen.

“I even don’t know his name,” admitted Yukio. “But it doesn’t change a thing. I don’t think anybody from Gehenna can be good, kind or merciful”.

He was quite stubborn and Mephisto had to acknowledge it. Previously, the demon planned to introduce twins to each other, but now it looked like there would be some serious complications. First, Rin had no idea about having a younger twin. His reaction to such news remained unpredictable. Second, Yukio seemed to have serious doubts about his brother. There was no guaranty that he wouldn’t choke Rin to death during their first meeting. The fact that Rin wanted to break the seal as much as Yukio wanted to protect it didn’t make anything easier.

No, his little brothers both lacked a common sense. Rin needed to learn something about patience. And Yukio definitely had at least try to understand what acceptance is. Maybe they actually could teach each other, but…

Well, who said the twins should know all the truth? There was no need to tell Rin about Kurikara at the moment, as well as there was no need to tell Yukio that Rin was his brother. Well, eventually the secret would be made open. However, by that time the situation would be completely different.

For now it looked like the best option, so…

“Have you ever thought of becoming an exorcist?”


	12. Chapter 12

It wasn’t too easy to convince Yukio to become an exorcist, yet it was still possible. At first, the teen really doubted. Yes, he could get the best knowledge about demons and their world. On other hand, it also meant he would always have to be extremely cautious, sleep lightly and watch his back. There would be no one to trust.

Yukio suddenly caught himself on the thought that he actually still wanted to live, despite all he had said before. He could not die, definitely not now, when Satan was still alive. Maybe, revenge remained the only Yukio’s reason to live, yet it still was the _reason_.

Perhaps, that’s why the teen agreed in the end…

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It was more difficult to deal with Rin, who had no actual reason to stay in Assiah after he would find the seal. Knowing his impatient and reckless nature, Mephisto had no doubts about his brother’s next actions.  He certainly would try to attack Satan head-on without any strategy. Rin’s problem was that he seriously overestimated his own power: even if in theory his flames could be as dangerous as Satan, he still remained too young and inexperienced, without any actual training. Maybe, in a few centuries Rin would become an opponent of some worth, but definitely not now, even with the seal broken.

At least, for now Rin was depending on Mephisto. But who knew for how long? The King of Time had lived long enough to understand with ease that his younger brother wasn’t very happy about that. Besides, it looked like Rin grew more and more disappointed as the time passed. For a moment he killed time reading some action manga (which actually had interested him), but no one could know when the teen would grow tired of it.

“So, little brother, I have some news for you,” sang Mephisto, entering the room.

Rin winced. He definitely didn’t like to be called little brother by somebody like Mephisto. Besides, one could easily see on his face what the teen was thinking at the moment. Most likely, it was something like ‘if you don’t tell me about the seal, I’ll leave’.

“So what is it?” asked Rin without any interest. He picked up a volume of manga and flipped it over.

“Oh, and I’ve thought you were eager to learn something about your seal…” said Mephisto with fake disappointment.

The reaction was immediate: Rin dropped the book and rose to his feet.

“What do you know???” he yelled, impatience and anxiety in his eyes.

Mephisto smirked. It was the reaction he was waiting for. For now he only had to find appropriate words.

“As far as I know, there was an exorcist responsible for your execution after you was born. However, for some unknown reason he let you live and only sealed your power…”

Well, it was the truth, but definitely not the _whole_ truth. Mephisto decided not to tell his younger brother about his own involvement otherwise it would raise more unnecessary questions. It would be much better to pretend that he had nothing to do with it.

Rin looked stunned.

“I’ve thought exorcists hated Satan…” he murmured. “So why had that person?..”

“That exorcist’s name was Fujimoto Shiro. I think he was only one who knew about your seal,” continued the demon.

“Was?” the usage of past tense wasn’t lost on the teen.

“Yes, Fujimoto was killed by some demon not so long ago,” Mephisto deliberately omitted the fact that ‘some demon’ was actually Satan himself. It was another thing he didn’t plan to tell his younger brother right now.

Rin lost his heart as he realized that he actually lost his only clue. If that exorcist was dead, he had taken his knowledge to his grave.

“So, there’s no hope,” the teen muttered.

“Well, who knows?” sang Mephisto. Rin’s changing moods were really hilarious. “After all, Fujimoto had an adoptive son, who may know something…”

The teen’s face brightened:

“That means I must find this guy and…”

“And what are you going to tell him?” asked Mephisto with unreadable expression.

“The truth, of course…” replied Rin, slightly confused.

“Something like ‘Hello, I’m Satan’s son and your late father had sealed my real power… Can you help me?’? What do you think will be his reaction?”

“I won’t say something so stupid!” the teen snapped. “I’ll try to explain everything!”

“The meaning still will be the same,” chuckled Mephisto. “Besides, I want to warn you: that boy hates demons’ guts. After all a demon killed his guardian before his eyes… He’ll probably choke  you to death the moment you mention your relationship with Satan…”

“Then, what are you suggesting?” Rin looked really angry. “To steal the seal?”

“Do you know at least how it looks like?” Mephisto asked back. He had already known the answer: Rin hadn’t even the slightest idea, otherwise he wouldn’t look so shocked at that sudden realization.

“Then, I don’t know…” the teen sulked. “I’ve run out of ideas…”

It seemed it was right moment.

“So, what about gaining his trust?” suggested Mephisto.

“Gaining his trust,” repeated Rin absent-mindedly. Next moment he yelled angrily: “Samael, do you mean I have to deceive somebody?”

Well, it wasn’t wrong for demon to lie; rather, on the contrary, deception was a part of demonic nature. Yet only thought of possibility of deceiving somebody, even for his aims, made Rin sick. He had always been an honest type. Besides, how would he change Gehenna if he behaved like typical demon?

Moreover, even if he didn’t know that Fujimoto’s son, the teen already felt some sympathy for him. Rin actually thought that he could understand that guy’s position: he himself would never forgive the murderer of somebody dear to him and probably would hate anybody related with them. That guy definitely had no reason to trust Rin.

“I mean you need to become close friends with him,” sang Mephisto. “If you don’t like pretending, you always can actually befriend him. After all, you’re of the same age and definitely will find something in common… I simply advice you not to tell him everything right away. Especially, avoid mentioning Satan. Dangerous topic, you see… Maybe, one day you even will be able to tell him everything…”

Rin kept silent. The offer still seemed unpleasant. It didn’t matter what kind of person was that Fujimoto’s son. Even if he was total jerk it didn’t seem right to try to get along with him only for personal gain. On other hand, Rin always wanted to have a real friend, somebody he could depend on. Alas, there wasn’t anybody in Gehenna, whom the teen could really befriend. But what about Assiah? What if he actually would be able to find real friends here?

Mephisto smirked. It seemed that Rin actually agreed with his plan, even if he hadn’t approved it entirely. The first move was made; the second one had to follow right now.

“Oh, and I have a little suggestion for you,” added Mephisto. “You’d better attend cram school for exorcist…”

“For what reason?” interrupted Rin. “I’ve grown in Gehenna. I think I know more about it than any teacher in that school!”

“Who knows?” chuckled the demon. “Besides, Fujimoto’s son will attend it as well… Oh, and one more thing: you’re going to attend ordinary school as well…”

“What???” asked the teen, quite dumbfounded. He had learned something about Assiah schools from manga and it certainly didn’t seem so amusing to him.

“What do you mean ‘what’?” smirked Mephisto. “An average teen of your age have to go to school. Otherwise, it will raise unnecessary suspicions. I don’t think you want some attention from Vatican. And I don’t want to explain your existence to higher ups…” 


	13. Chapter 13

Yukio looked around his room absent-mindedly. Today would be a hard day. The bespectacled teen remembered his conversation with Mephisto Pheles once more.

To become an exorcist. That day only idea of it seemed insane. After all, that time Yukio was afraid of both demons and exorcists, moreover didn’t know whom he could trust. Well, it wasn’t like the teen had found somebody to trust after that, but he at least had calmed down and considered his situation from every angle. After all, Yukio had always been a reasonable person. Rushed and reckless actions weren’t his style. The grief and anger clouded his mind for a while, yet conversation with that strange person Mephisto Pheles helped the teen to regain his composure.

It was the same with hatred and rage. While at first they were all-consuming and overwhelming, they gradually calmed. It was like disastrous unstoppable fire, which became a little seemingly harmless flame. Yukio wasn’t too naïve to believe the fire had died out for good. The hatred was still there, deep inside his soul, waiting for a possibility to burn with new power.

Yukio didn’t know what would happen in future. What would be his reaction if he met Satan once more? Most probably, he would forget about any reason. And if it was his elder twin brother? Would he actually be able to kill him? Even if Yukio had told Mephisto so, he actually doubted. Blue flames were embodiment of utter darkness and evil, something monstrous, against the whole nature of this world. Something like that definitely had to be wiped out. It had no right to exist. Yet, Yukio still couldn’t entirely convince himself.

What if his elder brother wasn’t violent demon? What would he do then? Wouldn’t it be much more evil to kill innocent person? Wouldn’t it be the greatest sin to kill his brother?

Yukio shook his head. There were too many ‘ifs’. What was the reason to cherish vain hopes?

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Yukio would never think that Mephisto Pheles was actually able to surprise him. Well, that man looked, let’s say, weird at least, but the teen was too cautious to be caught off guard only because of that fact. He suspected that Mephisto was much more intelligent and cunning than he seemed, besides he didn’t trust him entirely.

But now Yukio was really stunned. To think that Mephisto Pheles was really Johann Faust V, probably the most extravagant person in the city, if not in the whole Japan, and the principal of prestigious True Cross Academy. Which one of those two names was his real one, remained the mystery and the teen seriously doubted that the man would tell him even if he asked.

“So you’ve managed to get a scholarship of Domon school,” said Mephisto, looking at Yukio’s documents. “Quite impressive, I must say… Why haven’t you tried to enter True Cross Academy?”

“I wasn’t sure,” murmured the teen. “After all, it’s the best in our city…”

“What a waste!” sang Mephisto. “You would have a great chance, even without connections. Your grades are quite remarkable… Well, it doesn’t matter anyhow. In any case, your transfer documents are ready”.

“I have a question, sir Pheles,” interrupted Yukio. “Is True Cross Academy school for exorcists? If not then what is the reason of that transfer?”

“Well, it’s not like entire school is for exorcists,” admitted the man. “There is a cram school, but of course, the most of students have no idea about demons or Gehenna. However, you’re going to attend not only exorcist lessons, but ordinary ones as well…”

“But…” Yukio frowned and tried to argue.

“No ‘buts’,” smirked Mephisto, holding up his finger. “There is nothing good in neglecting your ordinary life. Shiro would never approve something like that…”

The teen said nothing. Even if he didn’t agree, he wouldn’t dare to voice it, especially now, after Shiro’s name was mentioned.

The demon continued:

“Oh, and I have a little request for you… Nothing too difficult… You see, I have a little brother. He’s in my care for the time being and I must say he’s real pain in neck. So I need somebody to look after him…”

“I don’t want to babysit some kid,” stated Yukio firmly. Only idea of that seemed ridiculous.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something,” chuckled Mephisto. “You don’t have to babysit anybody. My little brother is the same age as you. However, he is problem child with tendency to get into trouble. Besides, he’s not from this city and kind of socially awkward. I think somebody like you can actually help him”.

“Well…” muttered Yukio. He didn’t know what to think about it, but it seemed he had no other choice than to agree.

Mephisto noticed that hesitation and added:

“Besides, anyway, you’re going to be roommates and attend the same lessons…”

The teen froze. For a while he really hoped that had misheard. But no, Mephisto clearly said those words. The strange request suddenly got new meaning. It seemed the man decided to appoint observer over him, or maybe even overseer. Well, nobody had said that they would leave son of Satan alone. That meant only one thing: Yukio actually had no other choice. Anyway, Mephisto Pheles would find a way to keep an eye on him…

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Yukio was sitting on the coach, considering his situation. Mephisto had gone somewhere, so now the teen had a possibility to think.

Were his suspicions justified? Was it a mere paranoia?

His train of thought was interrupted by a loud voice:

“Hey, Samael, what…”

Yukio turned back and saw the dark-haired teen, which seemed very familiar. However, even before he could actually remember, where he could meet that teen, the brunette exclaimed in great surprise:

“Yukio??? What the heck are you doing here???”

“Rin?” Yukio was surprised as much as him. He would never think that Rin had any connections to True Cross Academy. The bespectacled teen opened his mouth to ask about it, but was interrupted by Mephisto’s appearance.

“I see, so you are here, Rin…” the man smirked. “This is Okumura-kun. I’ve told you about him before…”

“I know, it’s Yukio,” nodded Rin. “We’ve met before”.

Suddenly his smile vanished as he asked much quieter with noticeable shock:

“What do you mean by ‘told before’? Then…”

“Yes, this is your roommate,” interrupted Mephisto. The fact that the twins had actually met before slightly amazed him, but then fate had always been really unpredictable. The man turned to Yukio and added:

“And this is my little brother…”

“Half-brother,” corrected Rin. He surely didn’t approve omitting of that little detail. “We have different mothers”.

Yukio nodded automatically. The situation turned out entirely different from what he had imagined. The bespectacled teen expected to meet somebody deviously cunning, but Rin didn’t seem to be such a person. Even during their first meeting Yukio thought his new acquaintance was incredibly bold, somehow naïve and now the first impression was confirmed. Rin’s smile was too bright and his blue eyes were too honest. There was no way somebody like that was able to spy on somebody. Well, that guy could as well turn out to be a brilliant actor, but for some reason Yukio didn’t think so.

On other hand, the bespectacled teen suddenly understood why Rin had called his elder brothers ‘bunch of weirdoes with sick hobbies’. Mephisto Pheles really was, well, unusual person, most probably actually befitting that definition.

Yukio didn’t know what to say in that quite awkward situation, so he asked the most innocently sounding question he managed to think out:

“So what’s your last name, Rin? Pheles? Faust?”

The question was really innocent, yet the reaction proofed otherwise. Rin’s expression couldn’t be described in words. Well, after all he hadn’t thought about it, besides, he hated to be reminded about his relation with a clown like Samael, not to mention the fact that both names sounded really stupid to him.

And Mephisto seemed certainly amused. Probably, he actually liked the idea.

“You know,” he started. “It’s definitely an important…”

“Hell, no!” interrupted Rin angrily. “If I’m actually supposed to have a brother, I’d better pretend that my brother is Yukio and take his last name! Okumura, was it?”

There was a long silence. Rin had to admit that his idea was really random. It was something spontaneous and unplanned. The teen didn’t even know why he said something like that.

Mephisto studied his younger brother’s face carefully. Did Rin actually know the truth? For now it didn’t seem so. Most likely, it was a simple coincidence. However, the demon actually liked that idea.

Mephisto looked at Yukio, who was simply shocked. Most probably, he could accept that unusual condition, even if he didn’t approve it. After all he had no choice.

“You know, it’s quite a reasonable suggestion,” said the man thoughtfully. “After all, two brothers hanging together are much less suspicious, than two complete strangers. And about the same age, you can pass as twins. So what do you think?”        

“Whatever,” muttered Yukio. For some reason those words really hurt. They reminded the teen about his long lost twin. But then…

Well, Yukio knew he could pretend to be Rin’s brother. However, he never planned to become friends with him…

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“Really, that Samael…” groaned Rin as both teens were leaving Mephisto’s office. “What’s the matter with him?”

Yukio said nothing. The situation before was too ridiculous, so he hadn’t noticed it at first, but now… Rin’s appearance was quite unusual. Slightly pointed ears, fangs… Yukio wouldn’t pay attention to those features if it didn’t know what they meant. Alas, they were too familiar to him. After all, he saw them in the mirror lately.

That wasn’t easy. On the contrary, it was extremely hard. Maybe, Yukio hadn’t known Rin for a long time, but he didn’t seem a bad person to him.

Rin was complaining about Samael’s stupidity when he heard Yukio whispered something. However, he didn’t hear it well, so he asked:

“What have you said?”

Yukio repeated with a frown:

“You are half-demon”.    


	14. Chapter 14

“You’re half-demon.”

That definitely wasn’t a question.

Really, why did it have to end like that?

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Rin’s day started without any unpleasant incidents. On the contrary, it seemed to be a really nice day. Well, it might be, if you excluded the fact that the teen was going to meet an adopted son of that mysterious exorcist Fujimoto Shiro.

From Samael’s description that guy seemed too serious, gloomy and depressed. Moreover, he hated demons with passion.

“You must be extremely cautious around him,” sang Samael. “And no blue flames!”

“What about you?” asked Rin, trying to ignore his elder brother’s annoying intonation. “I kinda can understand that I’m half-demon and the son of Satan… But Satan is your father as well, moreover you’re actual demon and King of Time… And still that demon-hating guy agreed to receive your help, didn’t he?”

The teen seriously couldn’t get it. Those two facts actually contradicted each other. Yet the mystery was solved in a few seconds.

“He didn’t know. Nobody has told him. And he himself is new to all this stuff to understand anything on his own”.

“What?” Rin was somehow surprised. On other hand, it didn’t seem that Samael was truthful and honest person. He certainly lied easily, without any remorse. Most likely, the demon actually loved to screw with people…

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Rin got nervous, looking at Yukio. Seriously, his true nature was discovered in few minutes!

“Half-demon? Me? Nice joke!” the dark-haired teen forced a laugh. Well, even he himself had to admit that it sounded totally fake. After all, he was bad liar. Samael, for example, would definitely get away in such situation.

Yukio stayed silent, his expression unreadable. Rin panicked. His lie hadn’t worked (no wonder!).

“How did you find that out?” Rin asked, giving up. At least, Yukio didn’t seem to know about his relation to Satan. But really how had his new acquaintance managed to find out? New to all that stuff? That statement suddenly became very dubious.

“Your ears, your teeth,” answered Yukio, pointing out unusual features. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re hiding a tail”.

‘Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?’ thought the bespectacled teen with a frown. ‘After all, I have these as well. Your elder brother had to tell you about it’.

His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed Rin’s totally shocked expression. Then it hit Yukio: his new acquaintance didn’t know a thing. Mephisto most probably hadn’t told his brother about Yukio’s demonic heritage. But then it could really mean only one thing: Rin wasn’t going to spy on him. It made sense somehow, as the dark-haired teen didn’t seem befitting for that role. Yet, it was too early to lower the guard.

The silence spun out and Rin lost patience at last. He expected an immediate reaction, but instead Yukio for some reason continued to examine him silently.

“So what if I’m half-demon?” he asked with slight irritation. “Does it change a thing? I’m still the same!”

That was something Rin had believed for many years. It didn’t matter for him what the person was, demon or human, or even half-demon like himself. However, it didn’t seem the same for Yukio. Or no?

“Maybe, you’re right,” said the bespectacled teen quietly, surprising both Rin and himself. For some reason deep inside Yukio didn’t want to become Rin’s enemy. Was it because they were in the same situation? Was it because it was Rin, reckless, bold and impatient, but honest and easy-going in the same time?

Rin looked relieved. Somehow that uneasy situation was resolved without any complications. Alas, he relaxed too early.

“And is sir Pheles half-demon as well?” asked Yukio. It actually interested him at the moment.

“Sir Pheles? Do you mean Samael?” Rin laughed. “Him? Half-demon? Are you joking?”

Suddenly the teen shut up. Oh shit. He really lowered his guard too early and nearly blurted out the truth about his elder brother. Rin was sure that Samael wouldn’t like that fact. Yet now it was too late to change anything.

Nevertheless, Yukio seemed to misunderstand something as he muttered:

“You’re right… There is no way they let somebody with demonic heritage to occupy such a high position…”

For some reason, the bespectacled teen was relieved. He couldn’t even get that, in truth, it was clear self-deception. Of course, Rin’s words could mean that Mephisto was human, but they could, as well, mean that the man was obviously demon. Yet, Yukio deliberately clang to the former option, subconsciously discarding the later, much more possible.

Well, after all the self-deception had became a part of his character lately. The teen still couldn’t admit that he was a half-demon or Satan’s spawn. He simply wasn’t able to accept it. It hurt too much.

Suddenly Yukio realized that he was walking silently, deep in thought, followed by Rin who examined him with mixture of curiousity and nervousness.

“So where are we going?” the bespectacled teen asked, breaking an awkward silence. It would be better to forget about problems for a while.

“I don’t know,” shrugged Rin. “I’ve simply followed you because I thought you wanted to show me something…”

Yukio sighed. Really, the dark-haired teen was either an extremely easy-going person, or a genius actor. Anyway, he didn’t seem a spy. Most likely Rin really was a troublesome younger brother and Mephisto Pheles simply wasn’t eager to keep an eye on him. Then the man’s plan was… Yukio mentally facepalmed: most probably he really ended as a babysitter for the half-demon teen…

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The strange day continued, as Rin and Yukio had found their dorm, following some vague instructions from Mephisto.

It was an old, long-abandoned dorm. There surely wasn’t a soul living there. Yukio had immediately understood the point of that: Mephisto sent two half-demon teens there to hide any possible accidents. Not that bespectacled boy was against that idea. On the contrary, he was relieved.

On other hand, Rin didn’t like the old dorm at all.

“Really, that jerk Samael… Couldn’t he find something better?”

“Why do you call your brother ‘Samael’?” asked Yukio. It picked his interest some time ago. Really, how many names had the principal of True Cross Academy?

“Because, it’s his name?” guessed Rin. The question appeared entirely dumb to him.

“A real one?” inquired the bespectacled teen.

“I think so,” mumbled Rin. For some reason, it seemed that he was on dangerous ground once more.

“Then, why has he so many names?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Rin. ‘Because he’s dangerous demon hiding his identity?’ he guessed mentally and then added aloud:

“Weird hobby?”

Actually, knowing Samael, it could be both.

“Maybe…” nodded Yukio absent-mindedly. “It explains everything”.

It was a definite lie. Actually, it didn’t explain a thing, moreover only raised more questions. Yukio felt himself like person trying to solve incredibly difficult giant puzzle. Satan, Shiro’s death, Mephisto Pheles and his unclear motives, even that strange half-demon teen Rin – everything seemed connected and most probably was a part of much bigger picture, yet Yukio still couldn’t get it. He didn’t know what type of connection it was. Heck, he even wasn’t sure he had all pieces of that puzzle. Moreover, Yukio had a feeling that he had forgotten something really important and because of that missing piece all the puzzle became unsolvable.

But what was that? Yukio tried to remember. Somebody had said something really weird. So weird that it sounded like a joke. It seemed totally unimportant that time, but… Now it really bugged Yukio. It seemed that because of that forgotten phrase he had jumped to conclusions and made a serious mistake. Because of that all his deduction turned out wrong. Yet, Yukio wasn’t able even to find that mistake. He only knew for sure that it was somewhere…      


	15. Chapter 15

Rin sighed. Why it had to be so hard? Not only Yukio had already learned about his being half-demon, now the bespectacled teen actually forced him to tell the truth.

Well, Rin was sure that he should tell the whole truth in any case. But partial truth wouldn't hurt, would it? At least, the teen wouldn't corner himself with half-baked lies and only rise more suspicions. For now it seemed the best, if not only option. So Rin sincerely told Yukio that he was raised in Gehenna (after all, it would become clear anyway), without going into details, otherwise it would lead to his relation with Satan.

Yukio didn't seem very surprised as if he actually expected something like that.

"So," he began slowly. "After your demon mother died, a woman named Leije took care of you… Was she your mother's friend?"

Rin looked at him with slight confusion. Where the heck had Yukio got that 'demon mother'? Luckily, before the dark-haired teen managed to say anything, he remembered that Yukio was sure that his father was human. It was a real miracle that he hadn't blurted out about his parents.

"I think so," Rin muttered. It was close.

"But then, a year ago or so, she died and you went to this world, looking for your father," continued Yukio. "You'd actually found him, but he hadn't accepted somebody like you… I suppose, he tried to hide your existence and treated you horribly… That's why you've run away. Am I right?"

Rin nodded weakly, feeling extremely guilty. Well, he hadn't told any lies, but Yukio still misunderstood many things. On other hand, he was somehow right in some points.

Anyway, for now, Rin was some random half-demon in Yukio's eyes. For now, the secret was safe, no matter, how unfair it was…

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Yukio still wondered if he should tell Rin about himself. After all, his new acquaintance was honest about his true nature. Or at least it seemed so. But really why hadn't Mephisto told his younger brother everything? Would it actually change a thing? What were that person's plans?

Then there was that missing piece of puzzle, still bugging the teen. Yukio had already learned something more about Rin but still wasn't able to see, what was the mistake in his reasoning. That mysterious flaw kept slipping away.

Moreover, now another, maybe most important reason not to tell rose. Rin had spent most of his live in Gehenna and that fact changed everything in Yukio's eyes.

The bespectacled teen knew he couldn't trust any exorcist. After all, as a son of Satan, he appeared as a threat to them. However, Yukio was more than sure that he couldn't trust demons as well. Every time the teen thought about it, he remembered the fanatical look of that female demon he encountered, her words full of awe and worshipping when she mentioned Satan and the blue flames.

" _Blue flame… The great and unrivaled power of our Lord… So beautiful…"_

" _These are the flames of Satan, Gehenna's God!"_

" _Blue flames are the symbol of royalty."_

That demoness was only one denizen of Gehenna Yukio met (at least he thought so), yet the teen was sure that worshipping Satan was quite a common thing among the demons. He couldn't get the title of Gehenna God for nothing.

Then what about Rin? Even if he was only half-demon, he was brought up by demon. What if the dark-haired teen was actually influenced by those beliefs? Wouldn't he try to return Yukio to his real father in that case?

Well, Rin didn't seem that kind of person, yet Yukio couldn't tell it for sure. After all, it wasn't like they were old friends or knew everything about each other. There was also a possibility that Rin was hiding something.

Besides, it wasn't so easy to say that. How would it sound? Something like 'You know, Rin, I'm half-demon as well. Oh, by the way, Satan is my dad'? The only thought of that made Yukio sick. No way, he would ever voice something like that. Not because it sounded dumb, but because it meant to finally accept the reality. The teen still wasn't able to do it.

So Yukio decided to keep quiet for a while. Maybe, if he was lucky enough, the truth would remain hidden forever.

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Yukio had clear suspicions that living together with somebody wouldn't be an easy task. And Rin only proved that suspicions, moreover, proved in the first evening.

Well, it started quite innocently. Yukio was unpacking his things, while Rin was watching with slight curiousity. And then it actually happened – something that Yukio couldn't even expect.

"What is this?" suddenly Rin broke the silence. "Why is it wrapped with sheets?"

Yukio turned around and paled. Rin looked confused, holding wrapped Kurikara. Moreover, he actually began to unwrap it.

"A sword?" the dark-haired teen asked with surprise and tried to unsheathe it.

Next moment Yukio jumped to him with unhuman speed and snatched away the sword.

"Ow," Rin rubbed his arm – Yukio jerked the sword really sharply. "What's the matter with…" he suddenly stopped.

Well, Rin had already seen pissed Yukio once, the day they first met, but even that impression paled compared with the situation now. That time the bespectacled teen was only very angry, but now his glare was actually full of killing intent. Yukio's hand, holding the sword, slightly trembled because of rage as Rin assumed.

"Don't ever dare to touch my things again," the bespectacled teen said slowly and distinctly, with clear threat.

"Really, what's…"

"Never," repeated Yukio, holding on Kurikara more tightly.

"You know, you could simply say it," said Rin, slightly offended. "There was no need to assault me… Besides, you're quite stronger than you look…"

Yukio wasn't listening to him. He still was shocked because of this incident. Who would think that something like that could actually happen?

Rin wasn't right when he thought that Yukio was enraged. In truth, the bespectacled teen was horrified that Kurikara would possibly leave its sheathe once more. He still was afraid of his own blue flame. Moreover, it reminded the teen of the most horrible and tragic day in his life. That's why he swore never to unsheathe the sword and even tried to hide it among his things. Yet, now it seemed a grave mistake. There was always a possibility that somebody would accidently stumbled across Kurikara and try to unsheathe it out of sheer curiousity. It'd be much safer to keep the sword beside himself, even if it brought upon horrible memories…

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By the end of the day Rin drew an interesting conclusion: Yukio was weird. Besides, he was a bore. Otherwise, why would he have drawn a schedule for household chores?

Rin actually couldn't believe his eyes when he had seen it. However, Yukio was grim serious, so the dark-haired teen decided to give up without fight. He wasn't too eager to piss his roommate now, especially after that ugly incident with sword.

"OK, but why I'm first for cleaning?" Rin asked, hoping that Yukio had already forgotten about previous events.

"Because I'll cook first," answered the bespectacled teen with unreadable expression. "And if you're wondering for what reason we need a schedule… That's because there will be some rules".

"Rules?" Rin raised his eyebrows with surprise. He didn't like Yukio's tone.

"Yes, rules," demanded the bespectacled teen. "Otherwise there won't be any order. So first, to follow the schedule. Second, never touch each other things without permission".

"I've already understood," muttered Rin. He really thought that Yukio had overreacted because of that sword.

"Besides, please, hide your tail," continued the bespectacled teen.

"But why?" yelled Rin. Well, he really hadn't hidden his tail for a while, but he actually was sure that Yukio had nothing against it. Now it proved otherwise.

"Just because," Yukio straighten his glasses with slight irritation. "Besides, what if somebody see?"

"Come on, we're only people in this dorm! Who will see?"

"So what?" now Yukio was getting angry as well.

"Yukio, you jerk! Do you know how uncomfortable to hide the tail all the time is?" shouted Rin.

"So what?" repeated Yukio much louder.

Something flared up at the side. Both teens turned automatically and paled. A little blue flame was flickering mockingly in the air.

The silence was really intimidating. Rin didn't know what to do. He actually remembered Samael's warning about blue flames. How did he manage to make such a mistake? He thought he had control on his flame. Rin was so nervous, that he hadn't noticed Yukio's horror.

And the bespectacled teen was really terrified. His secret seemed to be discovered too early. So what now? And why did Rin keep silent?

"Gas has leaked…" Yukio murmured desperately, without any hopes. He knew that his voice betrayed him. He wasn't too good in lying in that kind of situation. Besides, he had no time to invent something better.

"And I've told you that Samael could find a better place," stated Rin too loudly and too hastily and then forced a laugh.

Both teens relaxed immediately.

'Fortunately, he's too dumb and has never seen blue flames,' thought Yukio with relief.

'What a luck, that he's totally blind!' thought Rin with mental sigh…


	16. Chapter 16

_…That was a hell, disgusting, horrible hell. That place seemed endless. Or was he running in circles?_

_The only colour prevailing there was blue – bright, royal, magnificent blue. Blue flames were blazing everywhere, devouring deformed human bodies. The most horrible thing was that all those people were still alive, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred, burned hands trying to reach him, husky voices howling accusingly:_

_“Demon… Demon… Demon…”_

_He tried to run away desperately, yet wasn’t able to do it. He knew all those people – they were his classmates, his neighbours, even his occasional acquaintances._

_He tried to run faster, covering his ears, yet still hearing those voices full of suffering and hatred._

_A lone figure appeared before him so suddenly, that he nearly bumped into that person. It was a familiar-looking demoness - skinny, unhealthy pale, with dirty, tousled long black hair and fanatical look. She seemed not to notice him as she whispered frantically:_

_“Blue flames… The great and unrivaled power of our Lord… So beautiful…”_

_He instinctively took a step backwards, trying to escape that insane person. Yet his attempt was futile as the demoness noticed him at last._

_“Young master!” she kneeled before him in awe. “You’ve punished these annoying pests!”_

_And she laughed with some insane happiness…_

Yukio waked up abruptly and covered his face with hands. Another night, another nightmare… They kept haunting him lately. It was nearly ridiculous how the teen considered his previous nightmares terrible. After all those were simple unpleasant memories, nothing that could be even compared with his later dreams, full of death, gore and blue flames.

Yukio had to admit that the blue flame had become his biggest fear.

The teen checked Kurikara. Fortunately, it still lay beside him. Everything seemed safe. Yukio thought grimly that it was really a good idea to go to bed much later than Rin, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to explain why he was sleeping hugging the sword. Even if Rin didn’t suspect anything (no matter, how you look, it was fishy as a hell), Yukio would become a laughingstock.

Speaking of Rin, he actually was snoring peacefully. It seemed he was a heavy sleeper. Well, after all the dark-haired teen had no need to watch his back. Yukio felt slight envy.

The bespectacled teen sighed hard-audibly and looked at the clock. Three-forty three. Another night he hadn’t managed to sleep until morning. Yukio knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep once more.

At least, it was Sunday. He still had a day to regain his composure. On Monday the new life would actually start.

Yukio slipped of the bed quietly, still holding the sword, and left the room…

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It wasn’t too easy to kill time. Yukio knew that it wasn’t the best idea to simply reflect over something as he usually ended reminding himself about Satan. He tried to read something, but then realized that he was stuck at certain point, not even able to tell what he was reading about. The memories of the nightmare still distracted Yukio.

The teen sighed. The clock showed five to seven. Well, at least it was already morning, yet it still was too early for Sunday.

Yukio remembered that it was his turn to cook. Anyway, it was a great possibility to forget about nightmares.

He wasn’t a good cook, on the contrary, he couldn’t cook at all. After all, cooking was always someone’s else responsibility in the monastery and Yukio had never disagreed with that. But now it actually raised some problems as the teen clearly understood that he hadn’t even slightest idea how to cook at least rice, not to mention something more difficult. In the end, Yukio had made some sandwiches. They weren’t too good, but still edible.

‘Well, anyway, I don’t think Rin will be able to make anything better,’ the bespectacled teen thought with slight embarrassment…

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Rin hated to wake up early, yet today he was forced to do so, as the annoying alarm clock went off. First, he didn’t want to open his eyes, hoping that Yukio would turn it off. Then the teen actually got up, looking for the source of unpleasant buzzing with some irritation. The next few seconds Rin struggled to turn alarm off, breaking it in the end.

“That jerk Yukio,” the teen murmured angrily. “Is it another one of his stupid rules?”

He looked around. Yukio’s bed was neatly made. And when did that guy manage to do it? Rin groaned. It still was too early. He was going to continue sleeping, but before he definitely needed to find Yukio and tell him everything he thought about him, his rules and his alarm-clock.

Rin raced to the kitchen with now-broken alarm in his hand. Yukio wasn’t there as well. However, Rin noticed some sandwiches on the plate.

‘Don’t tell me this is the breakfast,’ he thought with slight surprise.

Rin took one of the sandwiches carefully, examined it with suspicion and took a bite. Next moment he realized that now he had one more reason to speak with Yukio seriously…

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Yukio looked at the mirror once more, examining his teeth. His canines definitely were too sharp to be mistaken as human ones. Really, how was it possible that Rin hadn’t noticed?

There was some noise outside the bathroom, yet Yukio paid no attention.

His biggest concern now was his tail. He had to admit Rin’s statement: it was really uncomfortable to hide the tail all the time. However, it was all for the sake of safety. The possibility of somebody entering the seemingly old and abandoned dorm couldn’t be neglected.

But really that tail was very annoying thing. And the most annoying was that it actually reacted to most emotions. As soon as Yukio had actually thought about that fact, the tail twitched with irritation. Yukio frowned.

“YUKIO!” a loud yell returned him to reality.

Next moment, before the bespectacled teen managed to do a thing, Rin burst in the bathroom, holding a sandwich in his hand.

“What the hell with that poor excuse of…” he started angrily, but immediately shut up. The forgotten sandwich fell on the floor.

The silence was grim and uncomfortable. Rin seemed really shocked. Yukio simply didn’t know what to tell. Well, it wasn’t too unpredictable that his secret would be learned eventually by somebody sharing the room with him. Yet it still was extremely awkward situation.

“What?” Yukio asked at last, only to break the silence.

“You have a tail,” muttered Rin, still stunned. However, he quickly recovered from initial shock, as he continued:

“Yukio, you’re jerk! You actually know how it is to have a tail, and still… Really, what the heck with you? You’re half-demon!”

Rin hadn’t realized that yet, but he in fact had repeated Yukio’s words from previous day. Now the situation seemed mirrored.

“Shut up,” hissed Yukio, his tail twitched.

“You haven’t told me a thing!”

“As if I had to do it!” the bespectacled teen felt slight anger. Rin had definitely touched a sore spot, even if it was unintentionally.

“It isn’t too hard to tell that!” Rin felt offended as well. He, at least, was more or less honest (excluding the fact of his relation to Satan).

“So what? Ok, I’m half-demon. Happy?” growled Yukio and froze at sudden realization. In fact, he had admitted his nature aloud for the first time. Still, nothing changed. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought. Actually, it didn’t hurt at all. Instead, he felt sudden relief as if something was lifted off his chest.

“Really, you must be deaf or dumb or something,” Rin suddenly smiled brightly. “Haven’t I told you that it doesn’t change a thing? So what if you’re half-demon? You will always be yourself – grumpy, four-eyed mole-boy and scaredy-cat, who’s cooking sucks as a hell!”  

“What?” Yukio hadn’t believed his own ears. Well, it wasn’t like Rin tried to offend him, but still wasn’t it too much? And yet he was right. Father Fujimoto had written something similar in his letter.

_Just remember: your heart is only thing that matters. Demon or human, you're still Yukio._

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In any case, the problem was solved. Or, at least, it looked like that. Yukio still clang stubbornly to his rules, insisting that Rin should hide his tail. Any argument had no result.

“So what is wrong with my cooking?” Yukio tried to change the topic, totally ignoring Rin’s sullen look.

“Everything!” the dark-haired teen spat back.

“As if you can cook better,” the bespectacled teen frowned. He couldn’t even imagine traditional Gehenna cuisine. No, he simply didn’t want to imagine it.

“Actually, I can,” said Rin proudly. “I’m pro!”

Yukio looked at him doubtfully, yet said nothing. Next half an hour he was watching silently how Rin was cooking breakfast.

It seemed he hadn’t lied. The teen’s movements were precise and confident. He definitely didn’t do it first time.

“Here,” Rin put the plate before Yukio. The breakfast was plain, yet still incredibly tasty.

“You know,” Rin smiled confidently. “Leije actually liked Assiah food… However, her cooking sucked even more than yours, so that I had a need to learn that stuff myself…”

Yukio kept silent. He had actually thought that Rin was too childish and good-for-nothing before. However, that judgment seemed entirely wrong. Rin had his own talents, besides in some points he was much wiser than Yukio…     


End file.
